Almost no braking power

[Slade]

System

 

[IDIBOBS]

The rears are the weak point in that braking dystem

So why do school busses and big rigs still use drum brakes? Front and rear? With basic upkeep they work just fine. The problem with drums is they need maintenance. People today don’t like to maintain anything. Many people today lease cars or trade in new cars at 50,0000 miles. Most can’t change oil. Just use this site as an example. Many people get upset when they have to change a glow plug controller every 50,000miles. Same issue with people running to electric lift pumps instead of fixing air leaks. If drum brakes don’t work well why do mine and many others stop on a dime? Why do I have a great pedal feel? And next you’re gonna tell me about heat. Yes they get hotter than disc brakes. I say slow down and learn to drive correctly. I’ve never over heated my drums. And I tow and haul in the mountains all the time. Like many other things of the past they worked great just gotta do a little maintenance. This thread is a perfect example of experience vs the inter web. I’ll bet if I and many others of us were sitting at this truck we could figure it out in a few minutes. Braking systems are simple. It can only be a few things. The booster obviously fixed the hiss (leaking booster) now on to another problem. I’m still betting shoes not adjusted.

 

[onetonjohn]

I just bought a brake reset gauge tool cause I couldn't get the adjustment right. With the limited slip rear end, it feels like there is a lot of drag, but it's not from the brakes. When I used the reset tool, I found I needed a lot of adjustment from where I thought it "felt right" from wheel drag.

 

[UslAura1]

I will adjust them tomorrow after work, need to rotate my tires anyway, 34" mud terrain tires don’t like being always on front or rear, i’ll keep y’all up to date after

 

[UslAura1]

Alright, didn’t have the time to adjust them but bought a vacuum gauge, my truck is at 25hg, and my truck has little to no brakes, i know i gotta check the rear but i feel like the front isn’t braking too, feeling like the master cylinder is bad too

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I recommend adjusting the rear brakes before you spend more money on the truck. At least that part is free.

 

[UslAura1]

Yeah i’ll see if i have some free time tomorrow, the joys of working on a farm

 

[UslAura1]

I didn’t think the rear brakes does a ot in the pedal but from what you guys say it really does, looking at other threads too

 

[DirtyWood]

If the rears are out of adjustment there can be a lot more pedal travel before any braking occurs. You can always try to fix the self-adjusters since the parts are cheap and easy to replace.

 

[UslAura1]

Holy **** guys, adjusted the rear brakes, there was 1/4 inch between between the shows and the drums, now it brakes like hell, but i need new hardware because the nails that hold the shoes are broken off, and i need a new diff seal on the driver side

 

[IDIBRONCO]

One problem down!

 

[UslAura1]

Yep, the pedal feels harder now, sure it isn’t the best because the shoes can move around on the driver side but it still brakes more than before!

 

[Old Goat]

Holy **** guys, adjusted the rear brakes, there was 1/4 inch between between the shows and the drums, now it brakes like hell, but i need new hardware because the nails that hold the shoes are broken off, and i need a new diff seal on the driver side

You can purchase a new hardware kit from the local auto supply.
I bought one from O`Really`s.
Differential seal, you must mean the Hub Seal?

You can get a lot of mileage out of the rear shoes when they don`t
reach the Drums...


Goat

 

[UslAura1]

Yep i ordered one, and yeah i meant the hub seal, those aren’t too bad to chbage if i recalk

 

[rreegg]

Yep the rear brakes adjustment are very important. I overhauled drum hardware in the fall and they already need to be tightened up after just like 4-5k miles. Glad you were able to resolve this.