OK, so my e brake was giving me trouble so i figured ill check out the rear drum brakes. i pulled off the drums on both sides found one side the e brake wasnt connected, without removing anything else i hooked it back on. the drums were a little hard to get on so i spun the star wheel to make the shoes closer to eachother. i spun it all the way closed(smaller, tighter, idk how else to explain the direction i went).
now my pedal goes to the floor and i can barely stop, my question is should i re spin the star wheel open more? would rear brakes not grabbing cause a low pedal?
my e brake still doesnt grab much, the pads are still very good, before this my brakes were amazing. i don't wanna say the pedal feels spongy cause i dont really know what a spongy pedal feels like lol but its not that its soft, it feels normal just goes down very very low, but wont touch floor and comes right back up
also, i know that drum brakes are self adjusting, that is what is confusing me about why it hasnt gotten better.
someone help me lol i really dont feel safe driving like this, also i put a good 30 miles on it tonight driving slow but i did it to see if they would self adjust which they didnt change
rear brakes arent as self adjusting as people think, take the drums off and adjust them by hand. if there is a rust lip on the drums, remove it with whatever you have otherwise you are adjusting your drums to that diameter instead of the contact surface.
you may also have other problems, but I would start with that.
John is 100% right. The rears are not as adjusting as everyone thinks. Do as John said. Your pedal is going all the way down because now your using extra fluid in the lines to the rear, thus needing more pressure to move the rear shoes out farther. Dont worry tho, as long as its not going to the floor, literally, u have nothing to worry about. Get the tires off, and adjust the wheel until there is a light drag on the shoes on the drum. Nothing that too light, but something that has a drag across the drum. You will obviously spin them to get them right. Once you do that, pop the drums on, and spin then, if there is a light drag, reinstall the drum, and go for a ride. Goodluck!
I had the same issue, Just that lil extra turn with the adjustment gear to get that light drag on the drum. I did that it corrected my issue.
Good Luck
ok, figured it all out, decided to get it up on a lift and figure out all my cars noises lol
you're all right, rears were too loose, fixed that, one wheel cylinder is leaking a little and soaked the shoes so lately they stick and grab so its clunking around, other than that no big deal, nothing too bad
drove a monte carlo today with a bad master cyl, pulling into the lot trying to park next to my cav, brake sinks, i almost crash my cav =( lol saved it though...scariest moment ever
My garage has a steep downgrade right out of the bay. My e-brake has always been way too loose to stop the car and I usually keep my rears backed way down because I hate when they grab hard after rain. Anyway, I installed new front brakes and pulled a rookie move: forgot to pump them up. I pull out and realized I was totally screwed. Also, it's a 1 way street but if you go the right way it takes you to a busy intersection so i turned the wrong way and had a car coming head on at me. The only way to stop was to throw it in 5 and pop the clutch to stall it out. It was pretty epic.
"In Oldskool we trust"
Lol, i had a.brake line blow on me while heading to work one day. went to stop at a light, i head a small pop and the pedal just went to the floor and i kept going. lucky i was the first car in the lane so i yanked the ebrake and stopped. I then drove it home stopping with the ebrake. yeah fun times, especially since i would pull the ebrake and the rears would lock lol.
Mike Z A.K.A SNEEZY wrote:Lol, i had a.brake line blow on me while heading to work one day. went to stop at a light, i head a small pop and the pedal just went to the floor and i kept going. lucky i was the first car in the lane so i yanked the ebrake and stopped. I then drove it home stopping with the ebrake. yeah fun times, especially since i would pull the ebrake and the rears would lock lol.
Been there, done that, not fun.
Sunfiretun3r wrote:Mike Z A.K.A SNEEZY wrote:Lol, i had a.brake line blow on me while heading to work one day. went to stop at a light, i head a small pop and the pedal just went to the floor and i kept going. lucky i was the first car in the lane so i yanked the ebrake and stopped. I then drove it home stopping with the ebrake. yeah fun times, especially since i would pull the ebrake and the rears would lock lol.
Been there, done that, not fun.
x2. I think it's a rite of passage.
Hahaa yeah it kinda goes with the saying "Well ya never really owned a j long enough till u had a brake line split and scare the hell outta you bc when u wanted to stop it didnt"
RoboticPotPie wrote:Sunfiretun3r wrote:Mike Z A.K.A SNEEZY wrote:Lol, i had a.brake line blow on me while heading to work one day. went to stop at a light, i head a small pop and the pedal just went to the floor and i kept going. lucky i was the first car in the lane so i yanked the ebrake and stopped. I then drove it home stopping with the ebrake. yeah fun times, especially since i would pull the ebrake and the rears would lock lol.
Been there, done that, not fun.
x2. I think it's a rite of passage.
X3 wellllllll maybe X2.5, yanked ebrake to stop and the rears locked up but never poped a line, had absolutely no brake fluid in the reserviour when driving the car home my dad decides oh ill stop for a yellow light thinking i wouldnt have made it through and we were far from my house and he had only gps...him not knowing i woulda ran the light with no problem lol even tho i had no regi or insurance on it (just bought it)...andways i floor the brake and they work a little but not enough i grab the e brake and eerrrrrttttttttt...just missed him by half an inch lol he gets out sweating like @!#$ i thought for sure i woulda had my bumper in my trunk the rest of the way home haha everyone at the light around us staring like it was a big crash not knowing we knew eachother....didnt help that the car only had 3rd and 4th gears so everyone beeping when i had to start from stop lol what a night
