I seem to have developed a perennial problem with the passenger side rear brakes. Last year, I spent money getting a spring kit, getting the drums machined, and I overhauled both sides. I even replaced a bad wheel cylinder ($85 from GM), on the driver side, although it is unrelated to this issue.

The passenger side rear brakes keep making a ton of noise, squeaking when I'm moving, and squealing/crunching/grinding when I apply the brakes. Anyway, I had some free time today so I decided to check the drums out. Driver side is fine---drum came right off no problem, got the brakes adjusted, pads are wearing evenly, it's all good. Then I get to the passenger side.....

After losing skin, I finally get the drum off (damn thing was stuck). I clean the assembly with brake cleaner and start to inspect the pads. The pad that faces the front of the car is grossly uneven at the bottom (you have to look closely in the pics).

Any idea if there is another underlying problem I should look for? Here are some pics---2 showing the pad, and one showing my frustration:

So you replaced everything but the right rear wheel cylinder? Should have went ahead and done that too since you were replacing everything.

As for the pads wearing un-evenly, usually a sign of a warped drum.



1983 Camaro Z28

I only replaced the driver side wheel cylinder because the seal inside went bad and was leaking. There was no need to replace the passenger side cylinder. The car only has about 39K miles on it.

But I guess getting new drums is a good idea then, along with new shoes.

Thanks

Usually wear like this is from over adjustment, frozen star wheel, stuck e-brake cable, improperly installed shoes. looking at your pics, i cant even see a star wheel at all, maybe just a bad pick. I am not to familiar with the horseshoe springs on a j-body, so other than my 2 cents, i cant give you much else.

The star wheel is there. It is behind the hub toward the rear of the car.

John Benham wrote:Usually wear like this is from over adjustment, frozen star wheel, stuck e-brake cable, improperly installed shoes. looking at your pics, i cant even see a star wheel at all, maybe just a bad pick. I am not to familiar with the horseshoe springs on a j-body, so other than my 2 cents, i cant give you much else.

A stuck e-brake cable would not cause wear like that, it would cause wear over the whole pad. Can't really get the installation of those shoes wrong I would hope.. lol. Those are easy as cake. Star wheel might be a possibility, but since it's new I think.. I doubt that.

I would vote for your drums being warped.. replace those and your shoes, see what happens.



1983 Camaro Z28

did you grease the contact points, and self adjuster (star wheel)


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drums being warped (out of round) can not cause uneven wear. Even if the drum is oval shaped, the low spot of the oval would still contact the entire friction surface. Similar to if you have warped rotors, they wont wear your pads unevenly. Improper install is more of what I see with rear brake setups, even though looking at your picture, I do not see anything obviously out of whack.
One thing I will ask, since I cant see very good in your picture, do you have the primary shoe and secondary shoe in the correct place? I am not sure if this setup has a primary shoe, which is why I ask, cant tell from the pics, but the front one does look slightly longer (which would be wrong), but that could also be an illusion.
It is important to lubricate all metal - metal contact points, however I dont see it causing this. My guess would most likely be the fact that you changed one wheel cylinder, but not the one on the wheel you are having problems with. It is always recomended that you change hydraulic components per axle, not per wheel for this exact reason.

for starters. you have the smaller shoe on the rear. that is supposed to be on the front. the smaller shoe ALWAYS goes towards the front of the vehicle. it does the least amount of work. other than why its doing that. im not sure if its cause of the way you put the shoes on or what. but thats an issue that needs to be adressed.

also. you coulld have a sticky wheel cylindar on the pass. side. also. take note that you do NOT need to buy a wheel cylender from GM. you can buy it at any parts store.

Wojo wrote:for starters. you have the smaller shoe on the rear. that is supposed to be on the front. the smaller shoe ALWAYS goes towards the front of the vehicle. it does the least amount of work. other than why its doing that. im not sure if its cause of the way you put the shoes on or what. but thats an issue that needs to be adressed.

The shoes are not on wrong. Look at how the adjuster/star wheel assembly hooks up. The star wheel aligns with an oval shaped hole in the back of the backing plate to allow for adjustment without removal of the drum. The shoes are the same size, it hink it is the angle of the pic or the stupid Cardomain logo in the second pic that is making it look different. There is no way to put those on wrong, If I had, I would no have been able to hook up the adjuster.

I'm leaning toward the wheel cylinder being bad. As far as being able to find the wheel cylinder at any auto parts store, try again (unless it has changed since last year). I called everyone and their mother last year and the only place to get the wheel cylinder for 2003 and newer Cavaliers was at the dealer. Believe me, I tried every option.

I did grease everything last year because I was getting an annoying squeak every time I let off the pedal, as if when the shoes moved back into place, the were squeaking against the backing plate.