# Replacing rear drums



## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Have the drums resurfaced. Maybe take some sand paper on the brake shoes. Long enough to be longer then the shoe itself. As you're going to use both hands and move the entire strip on the shoe back and forth. Clean up the shoes. 

If there's a shop in your area that has a brake check machine. You might have your car tested to see what the hydraulic performance is on all 4 tires. That'll tell you what all 4 brakes are doing. Efficiency wise. It'll also tell you your alignment.

And do you have a pic of your fathers 57 MGA?


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## CRUISE-CRUZE (Nov 8, 2010)

How did you adjust the drums? They are not "self" adjusting, you need to open the cover and spin the adjuster, I spun mine ~270 deg when my parking brake didn't work properly. There are good info on the forum about it, I think I presented myself something in the past. At 68K I don't think you have to change those yet, bu you need to open the cover and look inside..


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Sounds like he's taking the drums off. Op said it gets harder and harder to take off and on. 

A couple decades back. I had a 76 plymouth duster. 4 wheel drums. Talk about lousy brakes. The brake pedal was like hitting a brick wall. Car was hard to stop. 

Turned all 4 drums and she braked on a dime with a normal feeling brake pedal. Thank goodness that was the problem as winter was about to arrive.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

> Sounds like he's taking the drums off. Op said it gets harder and harder to take off and on.


Yes I am taking the drums off. It is sorta like I have to "wiggle the drum back and forth" to get it on or off. Giving the idea like the shoes are too big for the drums or the drum is going on crooked. I did have the drums turned 6 months ago @ 12000 miles ago. The shoes like the front pads looked remarkably new for the age of the car @ 50K when I bought it last August. I am starting to think whoever did the brake job didn't know what they were doing (if they did) I only say that bc my 14 LT and my 12 Eco came off easy and never had this much trouble.? Were there different drums for the LT vs the RS vs the LS? Thinking they grabbed the wrong one? i will look for the pics of the MGA.


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## mechguy78 (Jun 6, 2016)

I have 100K on my rear drums and noticed the same tightness when trying to get them off to adjust them. Everything looked remarkable on mine as well.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

The drums fit. So they're the right ones. 

Either your brake adjusters are working to which they should. Or you've got lips on the outter edge. You can run your fingernail along the surface of the drum to the top. You'll feel the lip. If it's not large enough to see with the naked eye. 

You'll get a lip on the outter edge of drum as the brake shoes aren't touching that portion of the drum. It's normal. 

Course if the drums were turned. There shouldn't be a lip. 

Another possible scenario is the emergency brakes aren't releasing completely. 
With the back end up off teh ground. How easily do the rear tires rotate by hand???? With the brakes released.


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

To my understanding each time you adjust the rear drum brakes, you're pushing the shoes closer to the drum. So to me it makes sense that each time you adjust them you're having a harder time reinstalling/removing the drum as they're getting closer and closer to it and likely touching it.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

snowwy66 said:


> The drums fit. So they're the right ones.
> 
> Either your brake adjusters are working to which they should. Or you've got lips on the outer edge. You can run your fingernail along the surface of the drum to the top. You'll feel the lip. If it's not large enough to see with the naked eye.
> 
> ...



It is odd, I would like to take a drum off my car and put it on my other car (from the 13RS to the 14 LT). If that makes sense. I am thinking I have a lip only because after they were turned, they fit easily and these drums "seem" different or I don't remember seeing . When putting them back on, once on they rotate rather freely once all the way on. I think the easiest thing would be to get a drum off the 14 and try it on the 13 and I won't need to buy parts until I am sure it is the problem. Who knows maybe it will resolve that noise at 40 MPH also or I can give it to my step son LOL.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Patman said:


> It is odd, I would like to take a drum off my car and put it on my other car (from the 13RS to the 14 LT). If that makes sense. I am thinking I have a lip only because after they were turned, they fit easily and these drums "seem" different or I don't remember seeing . When putting them back on, once on they rotate rather freely once all the way on. I think the easiest thing would be to get a drum off the 14 and try it on the 13 and I won't need to buy parts until I am sure it is the problem. Who knows maybe it will resolve that noise at 40 MPH also or I can give it to my step son LOL.


Easiest thing to do would be to look at autozone or rockauto and see of the part numbers are the same between the 2 vehicles. 

For instance. My 94 grand am got a new front hub. Transmission went out. I bought a 97 cavaleir. Hub went out a month later. Autozone said same part number. So i took the new hub off grand am and installed on cavaleir. Drove it 7 years.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

snowwy66 said:


> Easiest thing to do would be to look at autozone or rockauto and see of the part numbers are the same between the 2 vehicles.
> 
> For instance. My 94 grand am got a new front hub. Transmission went out. I bought a 97 cavalier. Hub went out a month later. Autozone said same part number. So i took the new hub off grand am and installed on cavalier. Drove it 7 years.


From what I saw, the part #s are the same that is why I mentioned it. Problem is not having the "real estate" to have them both jacked up at the same time and not knowing when he will be home or having to leave. Honestly, since I just adjusted the drum on mine, I will give it a week or 2 since it doesn't seem too bad right now and a PIA to remove mine and put mine on jack stands with the RS trim. And I don't know how the lip or whatever the problem will fit on his? I know only one way to find out. Maybe this weekend. We'll see. Real estate is the biggest of problems.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

Honestly, your drums probably don't even need to be changed.

I broke one of my rear drums when I replaced them on my Cobalt, trying to get it off because it was stuck on. However, it never really even needed to be replaced in the first place as it, and the shoes, were fine.


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

MP81 said:


> Honestly, your drums probably don't even need to be changed.


Either put them on a brake lathe or mount them backwards and have somebody turn them while you grind the ridge off. Then you can take the drums off with the shoes properly adjusted.


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## Cruzing12 (Oct 10, 2020)

I've honestly contemplated drilling a hole in the drum face to simply have a quick adjusting hole, as about every 2500km they need a tweak.


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