Brake heat

[The Warden]

Hello!

I just picked my truck up from getting the rear brakes done...and, surprisingly enough, the gentleman who did them declared that all of the hardware, springs, cables, etc. were okay and only replaced the shoes and turned the drums.

I drove the truck home, and pulled off the road a few times to make sure things were okay. The first time I stopped, I reached around the wheel and felt the brake drums...and the left side was almost too hot to touch, while the right side was almost cool. I decided to try a few "automatic" adjustments (going in reverse and briskly applying the brakes to a complete stop), and kept on going. I checked a second time, and both sides felt like they were at about the same temperature as each other...warm, but not unbearably hot. I figured that the "automatic adjustment" had done its job.

I then got home and checked again, and this time, the right side was far hotter than the left. The right side wasn't exactly too hot to touch, but it was pretty warm...and the left side was almost cool.

Does this sound about normal for a fresh set of drum brake shoes? Or should I go in and talk with the gentleman who did the work? FWIW, the truck seems happy...no smoke, no smell, and the truck seems to roll as it should and doesn't pull to either side or anything on those lines...

Thanks!

 

[93turbo_animal]

well Ideally both sides should be the same temp the almost to hot to touch sounds about right for just stopping another thing is to feel the hub and rim if its been sticking these parts will start getting warm where if its working properly they should stay cool as the drum cools off between stops I'd give it a couple days to see itf things get adjusted properly another thing you can do is jack up[ the truck put in nuetral set parking brake a click then turn tires by hand then go back and tighten E brake and see if one side locks up way before the other if its only a couple click difference between the 2 I wouldn' worry about it

 

[Exekiel69]

With new shoes I would not worry unless I see/smell smoke. You also said the drums are te same one so it will take a couple hrs drive to get them adapted. No need to do changes unless the problem persist. You can allways check if one is tighter than the other but no need for anything else so far, I say drive it .

 

[icanfixall]

Give it some time. Say about 1 to 2 weeks then see how things are. The automatic adjusters will never keep the shoes up where they need to be. Years ago I was told that shoes needed to be no more than about 25 thousands away from the drums to work properly. Now this sounds very close to me but try it out. Drum brakes work by sperading out at the top by the wheel cylinders. This in turn makes them come in contact with the drums and shift in the direction of rotation. The shoe thats the larger of the two does most if not all of the braking. When you go backwards the whole brake system rocks backwards and this pulls on the cable thats attached to the adjuster and the top pivot anchor pin making the adjuster wratchet on click. Most of the time when you find the brake peddle low its because the the rears are not adjusted up. Now you need to get under and adjust them manually. Next time your peddle is low or it creeps down at a stop try applying the E-braks and see if the peddle comes up. This is a sure way to tell if the rears are out of adjustment. Hope this helps out some....

 

[Magoo]

Another thing to consider. In the old days we used to re-arch the shoes so they were perfect. Now adays they are "close enough". I have pulled and inspected brakes I didnt like after a few thousand miles and the wear pattern was less tha 50% of the shoe. So things like that do happen. Give the brakes time to seat in. If your having pulling issues or one side getting hot, pull and see what the wear looks like.

 

[The Warden]

Okay...good to know that this sounds normal so far.

We'll see how things are in a few weeks, eh?

Sometimes, being terminally paranoid is a serious PITA...

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Another thing to consider. In the old days we used to re-arch the shoes so they were perfect. Now adays they are "close enough". I have pulled and inspected brakes I didnt like after a few thousand miles and the wear pattern was less tha 50% of the shoe.

I was just fixing to make that same comment.

When the drums are turned, they get effectively larger diameter on the inside.

All the old hands would re-contour the radius of the new shoes to match the radius of the drum.

This gave full shoe to drum contact.

If the shoes are not contoured to the drums, very little contact will result.

To prove this point, lay a new shoe inside a turned drum and it will rock like a rocking chair, having contact at only a small point.

A re-arched shoe will fit snug and not rock.

This contact will gradually increase as the shoes wear to fit the drums; and, by the time they have reached around 50% contact, they are ready to replace.