david85
Full Access Member
Most of us are not fans of drum brakes but there seems to be plenty of threads discussing the problems with drum brakes on these trucks, in particular.
Most of the comments seem to be about the automatic adjusters not working. I was also having problems with the parking brake not working very well. In fact, it never really worked all that well since I got the truck roughly 15 years ago, and gradually got worse even after several attempts to replace the cables. After overhauling the brakes on my Dad's truck recently (Ranger) and seeing the improvement, I decided to do the same with mine. I also had a leaky axle seal to replace.
Here's what I found...eventually.
The parking brake mechanism itself was not engaging the tops of the shoes correctly (see photo). Instead of directly engaging the shoes, the mechanism was pushing underneath the shoe. This caused the shoes to deploy against the drum at a weird angle, without applying much force to the drum. So the parking brake pedal still had resistance, but the effect on stopping the truck was close to nill.
I also recall many years ago having issues with the drum brakes sometimes dragging. This might explain why, since the jammed mechanism would prevent the drums from retracting properly. Bottom line, I was apparently relying mostly on front brakes for all these years. The E-brake is now strong enough to easily lock the rear tires on hot, dry pavement. Just for giggles I even put the truck in 4wd and hit the E-brake. It was enough to still chirp the tires and stop the truck very rapidly.
I haven't put too many miles on the new brakes, but the adjusters seem to be working.
Apologies for not taking photos during this round. It took several tries to get it right. The rear cylinders were replaced, some of the rear lines had to be replaced, and the new motorcraft drums had to be machined due to being out of round. Way more work than I bargained for but seems to have paid off. It took about a week for me to get used to how strong the brakes were compared to before.
Anyway, long story short, check the mechanism I pointed out with an arrow in the attached photo. It might be part of your problem, if you're having similar issues with your F250's drums. And yes, a new hardware kit was also installed at the same time.
Most of the comments seem to be about the automatic adjusters not working. I was also having problems with the parking brake not working very well. In fact, it never really worked all that well since I got the truck roughly 15 years ago, and gradually got worse even after several attempts to replace the cables. After overhauling the brakes on my Dad's truck recently (Ranger) and seeing the improvement, I decided to do the same with mine. I also had a leaky axle seal to replace.
Here's what I found...eventually.
The parking brake mechanism itself was not engaging the tops of the shoes correctly (see photo). Instead of directly engaging the shoes, the mechanism was pushing underneath the shoe. This caused the shoes to deploy against the drum at a weird angle, without applying much force to the drum. So the parking brake pedal still had resistance, but the effect on stopping the truck was close to nill.
I also recall many years ago having issues with the drum brakes sometimes dragging. This might explain why, since the jammed mechanism would prevent the drums from retracting properly. Bottom line, I was apparently relying mostly on front brakes for all these years. The E-brake is now strong enough to easily lock the rear tires on hot, dry pavement. Just for giggles I even put the truck in 4wd and hit the E-brake. It was enough to still chirp the tires and stop the truck very rapidly.
I haven't put too many miles on the new brakes, but the adjusters seem to be working.
Apologies for not taking photos during this round. It took several tries to get it right. The rear cylinders were replaced, some of the rear lines had to be replaced, and the new motorcraft drums had to be machined due to being out of round. Way more work than I bargained for but seems to have paid off. It took about a week for me to get used to how strong the brakes were compared to before.
Anyway, long story short, check the mechanism I pointed out with an arrow in the attached photo. It might be part of your problem, if you're having similar issues with your F250's drums. And yes, a new hardware kit was also installed at the same time.