OP
OP
forgot to add pic ... it’s not a great one but that gap is towards the back ... like I said had to brush a lot of crap out.....
Technical 500 brakes
- Thread starter Baglady1990
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Technical 500 brakes
forgot to add pic ... it’s not a great one but that gap is towards the back ... like I said had to brush a lot of crap out.....Hi,
How many miles on your car?
Rusty carp is normal there and not an indication of brake shoe health so don't worry.
Drum brakes require more finesse and skill than discs- but you did a grand job on your discs.
Cheers
Jack
Ps on the brake back plate there may be a small rubber plug that can be pulled out , looking through the hole you can see a part of a brake shoe and judge the thickness of the remaining friction material
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You think theyre bad!
This is at 7 years old
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OP
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Just gone over 40! I’m probably just worrying over nothing as per! Could I just replace the carp ? Put new painted ones on! Then at least I can view the shoes...
OP
OP
Hi,
You can replace the drums if you want too.
Drums can be found very cheaply.
Or remove those drums which look like they just need painting, May be easier to chips the rust off when they off the car.
That would enable you to see the shoes.40,000 miles probably half worn .
Removing drums that have been in place for years can be very difficult, like front discs but more so.
Plus it is possible you would have to wind back the auto adjuster between the shoes so the new(unworn so slightly smaller) drum back on.
Having said all that I think if you can get the drum off I'm sure you can do it , you have proved you are very capable and determined. Will give everyone another chance to help out in your thread.
Best wishes
Jack
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Mine too John:
This is what Becky's looked like at roughly the same age. There's been other "stuff" to do to her (front struts etc) so she's still running around, 2 years later, on the same rear brakes. The leading shoes are getting pretty thin now though, this was them two years ago:
Both rear cylinders have been weeping fluid slightly for the last year and I've got new cylinders waiting to go on when I get the time, so I'll be doing a complete overhaul at that time including new shoes and drums.
If you look at the inner surface of the drum you'll see the friction surface is actually in quite good nick:
Although they are very rusty on the outside I would probably have left them alone for a while longer - with new linings fitted - except that the first time I removed them after I'd bought her I had the very devil of a job getting the drums off over the linings. Did all the usual "stuff" - like backing off the handbrake cables and walloping the drum with my leather hammer, levering whilst rotating the drum, etc, etc. Both sides fought me valiantly but once I'd got them off you could see why they had been so difficult - very substantial wear ridges on the inside edges of the drums. This is a common problem with drums which have been neglected and not removed at service time for inspection. A few minutes with a grinding wheel (and face mask) removed the lip and so the problem it caused. For that reason I would advise removing the drums and inspecting at every service. Jack mentions that sometimes it's possible to see the linings through a "window" in the backplate (I vaguely remember it being common on front drums - back in the days of Fred Flintstone - for there to be a hole in the drum which allowed this? Austin A55 perhaps?) This can be very handy for a quick check but I'd still want to take the drums off to properly inspect everything - and grind/file down any ridge that might be developing - at every service. It just makes life so much easier. The depth of Becky's ridges would indicate a serious amount of metal has been worn away so now, two years on, I'm going to be treating her to a couple of S4p's best drums!
Anyone who has followed posts I've done knows my views on rear disc brakes so, sorry tapiO, but I'll stick with the drums - unless you are going to increase the car's performance most substantially. Drums are a wee bit more labour intensive and renewing shoes can be "fiddly" but invariably much cheaper to sort out when major hydraulic bits go wrong and more than adequate for a standard vehicle (often gives a better hand brake performance too)
PS The picture of the drum was taken after all the hammering had knocked the flaky lumps of rust off!
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Just caught Jack's last post so thought you might like to know those shoes on Becky are almost certainly the originals. - and I would guess from the wear ridges on the drums and the amount of dust inside them that the'd never been off since she rolled out of the factory! At the time the pictures were taken she'd covered approx 63,000 miles.
Hi Jock,
Thinking you may have already done this job I was hoping you would join in on this one.
Nice pictures thank you.
In jocks picture of shiny friction surface of drum you can see that fiat kindly threaded the drum hole where the drum to hub pointed retaining go through.
This is to help you get the drum off the car. The idea is you remove the retaining bolts then use two m8 or m10 (cant remember) screwed into the threads in the drum which push against the hub helping pull the drum off.
A handy way to evenly remove the wear and rust ridge on the inside edge of drum is to mount the drum back to front on the hub and spin the hub by hand whilst holding a file or very abrasive paper against the wear ridge(being very careful not to scratch the shiny friction face)
Jack
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Oh yes they were way too gone for simple painting, new ones were not expensive the hard part was removing the drums as a lip forms on the inside.
If doing the rears I suggest a new "fitting kit" both of ours got destroyed trying to remove the rusty hubs which were very hard to remove, also note whilst all UK cars have abs there are fitting kits for cars with and without AND shoes for with and without be careful when buying I bought a "identical" without kit and the auto adjusters don't work I now have new shoes and fitting kit that specifically say for cars with abs
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You could,, all be it with a degree of danger, mount the drum inside out on the front the start the car out of gear, the hub will rotate slowly and use a dremel or gently file to clean it up?
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Yes I was thinking of buying the kit just in case .... I would prefer to just fit new drums hopefully I can get away with leaving the shoes......
so I need to get drums & shoes with abs?
I’ve an MOT looming end of aug and will be having a service late July just want any “big” jobs out the way first [emoji23]
Obviously I’m just learning as I go .... so if some of my questions are a bit silly .. forgive me [emoji23]
Drums are universal shoes yes check for cars with abs I used the Mintex parts finding page to get the correct ones they list both so be careful.
At the opposite end of the car Iridium spark plugs mean they don't require looking at for 5 years
At the opposite end of the car Iridium spark plugs mean they don't require looking at for 5 years
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These are waiting to go on
https://www.brakebook.com/bb/mintex...onid=3E9B14E299E1C8618DBC7BA451D1AC9C?reset=1
You can get a pair of Bosch drums if required for £28 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1x-Pair-...699628?hash=item365b1a88ec:g:YpcAAOSwjFleEkAo
https://www.brakebook.com/bb/mintex...onid=3E9B14E299E1C8618DBC7BA451D1AC9C?reset=1
You can get a pair of Bosch drums if required for £28 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1x-Pair-...699628?hash=item365b1a88ec:g:YpcAAOSwjFleEkAo
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This post contains affiliate links which may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/hilka-pro-craft-dent-puller-kit-9-piece-set/62730
Something like this made removing the original drums from a 10 year old Renault with 105,000miles on the clock surprisingly painless
)
Something like this made removing the original drums from a 10 year old Renault with 105,000miles on the clock surprisingly painless
)
Aye Jack, I'm absolutely ashamed to have to admit to not having done those cylinders yet (I'm justifying my idleness to myself in that they are only just weeping) just seems to be an avalanche of stuff to do in retirement! I'd heard retired work colleagues saying that once you retire you'll wonder how you ever found the time to go to work, guess what? they're right!
OP
OP
https://www.screwfix.com/p/hilka-pro-craft-dent-puller-kit-9-piece-set/62730
Something like this made removing the original drums from a 10 year old Renault with 105,000miles on the clock surprisingly painless
It’s not available anymore or at least not in my area [emoji174]
It's available cheaper on eBay and the like
Or try toolstation.
