Brake/Wheel Issues - Need Advise

hi ok did u take shop in high school every lathe is on a screw feed and leves a line on the surface .S o to brake the line u polish it off , cross hatching does the same .shoes hook the lines of the drum and pull and release that is why i suggested u sand your drums and then your shoes will stay fluh against your backing plates

 

I got all the hardware in yesterday and installed it today. Just to ease my mind and rule out any and all variables, I also replaced the brake shoes...just in case I had a defective one.

So,
1. I pulled everything apart (AGAIN!)
2. Checked the wheel cylinders that I honed and rebuilt last weekend (no problems, there)
3. Checked the backing plate with a straight edge to make sure it's not bent.
4. Greased all of the contact points on the backing plate and all mating parts
5. Installed the second set of new shoes and all new springs/hardware
6. Bled the brakes for the 4th or 5th time
7. It still rubbed on the right side!

I took it for a drive to make sure everything set up. It still rubbed on the right side, so I came home and...
1. Swapped the left and right brake hoses (It did not follow the hose)
2. Swapped the drums (It did not follow the drum)

Back to the drawing board. EVERYTHING is new, so by this point, I'm making up new cuss words because I've used the regular ones so many times.

Time to take a closer look at the bearing preload. I did the bearing preload the way I normally do, which is to tighten the axle spindle nut while spinning the drum. When it starts to drag, back off 1/4 turn and install the cotter pin. Thinking I might be tightening it too much, I decided to do it a little differently. This time, I tightened it down until I got a good, solid drag (a little more than before) while spinning the drum, backed it off several turns and then finger tightened. Once I had it finger tight, I backed it off 1/4 to 1/2 turn. This is a little "looser" than I am accustomed to doing it, but it didn't feel sloppy so I rolled with it.

I went for a test drive and it seems to be OK now. I still wonder why the right side is so much more sensitive to the bearing preload than the drivers side. I hope I'm not just covering up the real root cause by running the preload a little looser. We'll see.

Does anyone have any more theories/comments/suggestions? Thanks for all the tips so far!

 

Any chance the bearing race is not fully seated?


I note that you checked the backing plate to see if it was bent.
The backing plate needs to be square to the drum.
The usual bend in a backing plate is at the mounting flange although a bent backing plate is somewhat uncommon.

Does the brake drum run true when spun?

Any chance you got grease on the drum?
Although your second set of shoes shouldn't be affected.

How bad is the drum dragging?
Just a dragging noise, or is the drum hard to turn by hand?

A light dragging noise isn't a big deal and is common.

You might try driving it for a while and see if the drag goes away.

Slighly overtight adjustment of the shoes isn't a big deal.

What technique are you using to adjust the brakes?

I used to work at a gas station where the owner was taught - by another gas station owner - to tighten the star wheel all the way until it was tight and then back off 10 clicks.

Never did like that and it struck me as a quick and dirty way to do it.

Are your star wheels on the correct side of the car?
And do you have self-adjusters?

Interesting problem - for us observers, for you, a sum*****.