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New brake shoes, tight spot in drum

Volatile

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Delaware
I've been working on my D35 -> 8.25 swap whenever time permits, and have been doing little things to the 8.25 before I put it in. Fixed a broken shock stud, replaced mangled pinion seal, etc.


I'm putting new brakes on it as a last step before a once-over paint job. This thing sat outside for who knows how long so the whole axle is pretty rusty. Starting on one side, I replaced the shoes, hardware, and wheel cylinder. For whatever reason the AC Delco hardware kit I got didn't come with new adjusters which I found weird, but whatever. I'm reusing the old drums.



I got everything back together and left the adjuster all the way in and put the drum back on. It doesn't spin free, but it's also not a crazy amount of drag. The problem is as I'm turning it, there's a spot during the rotation where it just stops and I have to kind of force it after that, freeing it back up.


The e-brake cables were cut to take it out of the donor Jeep. Could they have anything to do with it? Could the old rusty drums be my issue? I've done a few brake jobs on my D35 with no issue, so I'm not sure what I could've gotten wrong here as far as the hardware replacement.
 
The obvious conclusion would be a bad drum, but it might also be a bent axle! I suggest putting a dial indicator on the axle to check that before you go any further.
 
The obvious conclusion would be a bad drum, but it might also be a bent axle! I suggest putting a dial indicator on the axle to check that before you go any further.

Sometimes it’s so obvious that it’s looked over I guess!

I popped the opposite drum on, and it spins fine, so I’m going to be cautiously optimistic and say that the axle is still straight. The problem drum has a serious layer of cakes on rust, and I think it has developed almost a lip of corrosion on it. The other (good) one looks much better and spins the way it should. I tried sliding the bad drum over the opposite side which I haven’t touched yet, and can’t even get it over the shoes there’s so much rust.

I’ll try and clean up the rusty one, but worst case scenario I’ll reuse a drum from my D35 since they both have 9” brakes. Or buy new if I feel crazy that day.
 
I always cut the glaze off of a drum when installing new brake shoes. Use some 100 grit sealed sandpaper, sand at a 45% angle then again 45% in the opposite direction so you have a cross pattern. Old school and largely forgotten, but it works.
 
always sand the drums, remove rust and glaze. use a course grit, 100 works but I have even used 36 grit.

also check the runnout. also check the drum diameter to make sure it is within limits.

good luck
 
Given that it sat outside for a long time there is no telling what might have been resting on top of the drum or if it was dropped at some point. Why not take it into a local parts store? Most O'Reilly's down here will turn a drum for $10-$20. If it is warped, this will make it round again...



The best answer is to replace the drum.
 
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