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Drum brake help needed please!!!

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by sinner13, Apr 19, 2007.

  1. sinner13
    Joined: Sep 5, 2006
    Posts: 430

    sinner13
    Member
    from Buffalo NY

    I know I am missing something here...Ive done drums since I was 14 years old, but this is really ******* me off.....

    1951 Chevy....drums all 4 corners...new 3/16 lines...new shoes...drums are perfect....new wheel cylinders....new hardware....new dual res master cylinder...

    Car grabs the left front real bad......

    Ive bled Ive adjusted I bled again.....I cant get it not to grab on the left front....

    Its sunny and I want to drive the thing, but it is scary...

    What do ya think?
     
  2. Unkl Ian
    Joined: Mar 29, 2001
    Posts: 13,509

    Unkl Ian

    Primary and secondary shoes reversed ?
     
  3. Unkl Ian
    Joined: Mar 29, 2001
    Posts: 13,509

    Unkl Ian

    Mismatched wheel cylinder diameters ?
     
  4. Unkl Ian
    Joined: Mar 29, 2001
    Posts: 13,509

    Unkl Ian

    Contaminated brake shoes ?
     
  5. oldguy829
    Joined: Sep 19, 2005
    Posts: 376

    oldguy829
    Member

    Bad flex hose on one side? Could be either side.
     
  6. HHRdave
    Joined: Jul 31, 2006
    Posts: 1,068

    HHRdave
    BANNED
    from So Cal

    Might need a brake proportioining valve......
     
  7. sinner13
    Joined: Sep 5, 2006
    Posts: 430

    sinner13
    Member
    from Buffalo NY

    Flex hoses ..new.... Shoes...clean and new....

    Wheel cylinder has larger bore on Left front as per National chev......
     
  8. Unkl Ian
    Joined: Mar 29, 2001
    Posts: 13,509

    Unkl Ian

    Why are the wheel cylinders not the same side to side ?

    A larger bore will apply more force,causing it to pull to that side.
    Simple hydraulic theory.
     
  9. Unkl Ian
    Joined: Mar 29, 2001
    Posts: 13,509

    Unkl Ian

    Swap the cylinders side for side,and I bet it pulls to the other side.
     
  10. sufoowt
    Joined: Aug 16, 2005
    Posts: 122

    sufoowt
    Member

    Never heard of a larger wheel cylinder bore on one side. NAPA cylinders are both 1 1/8. I've seen old Ford cylinders that are stepped with two different bores on one cylinder but you still run the same on each side. I would double check cylinder size first.
    Fred
     
  11. 1950ChevySuburban
    Joined: Dec 20, 2006
    Posts: 6,185

    1950ChevySuburban
    Member Emeritus
    from Tucson AZ

    Also check suspension bushings, that can do it.
     
  12. tommy
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 14,756

    tommy
    Member Emeritus

    Also keep in mind that the side that is pulling may NOT be the trouble area. Usually it's the other side that is not working up to snuff so the side that is working correctly pulls.

    I've only got 25 years in a brake shop but I've never seen different bore w/cyls on the same end of the car. It is possible that a cylinder got boxed wrong. I've seen that a few times over the years.
     
  13. sinner13
    Joined: Sep 5, 2006
    Posts: 430

    sinner13
    Member
    from Buffalo NY

    So I took everything apart....go figure ..the hard line had some **** in it.....it wouldn't come out with air so I cut it up and best I can tell...it was some sort of wad of metal....maybe from the factory??...
    So I ran a new line and everything is fine....

    I guess just because something is new doesnt mean it is good...lesson learned.....

    Thanks for all the help......Im sure something else will go wrong before I can get it around the block......
     
  14. pasadenahotrod
    Joined: Feb 13, 2007
    Posts: 11,772

    pasadenahotrod
    Member
    from Texas

    Look there! There's an oddball hiccup waiting somewhere for everybody, isn't there??
    A complete brake job on a car you bought dead or from a junkyard or running but having stopping problems or you just don't know the last time anything was changed or whatever should include turning drums(replacement if too thin), relined or new shoes, preferably new cylinders, new flex hoses(don't forget the one to the rear), new master cylinder, probably new brake pipes(hardlines), new springs if available.
     
  15. Unkl Ian
    Joined: Mar 29, 2001
    Posts: 13,509

    Unkl Ian

    I was going to suggest two other ideas:

    Two primary shoes on the left front would make it pull.
    Not enough caster on the left front will do the same thing.
     
  16. sinner13
    Joined: Sep 5, 2006
    Posts: 430

    sinner13
    Member
    from Buffalo NY

    I actually ripped the right side off to make sure I had the right shoes in the right places:)

    I never had a steal line bad from the get go....weird...

    But on a good note, I took it for it's maiden voyage, did a 2 mile loop to make sure things were good....

    Now I'm debating if I should throw some mufflers in line....the straight pipes are pretty loud....and my local po po aren't to leanient....
     

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