Brake Job Questions

[skeeter72]

I have done brakes on a ton of cars for my friends, wife, and me. Is there anything i need to look out for; that would be different the doing a car? Also any recommendations on brands to stay away from or go towards for rotors, boots, pads, calipers, etc. Thank You in advance and Happy New Year.

 

[icanfixall]

Are you doing front or rear.

 

[skeeter72]

Both

 

[dunk]

Front is straightforward. I believe 94 would have the ball joint style sliding pin caliper bolts as opposed to the earlier rubber wedges. Either way is easy, but bolts may be crusty and need cleaning up and greasing.

The rear likely has leaky axle seals and everything covered in gear oil. If they are leaking replace them with Scottseal style two piece type seals. Do not use the one piece seals, they'll leak in no time. Clean the vent and if hose is gone run a new hose up high. New springs and adjusters are cheap, may as well do those too. The springs on these Sterlings are a bear to get on, there may be tricks to make it easier but I usually just brute force it and try not to bust my knuckles.

 

[franklin2]

I don't know if you lube the pins/rubber bushings on the cars, but it's even more important on these trucks. They seem to be exposed more to the elements. Since you have a later truck, you will have the two sleeves with the rubber piece in the middle. Make sure to clean the groove in the caliper and the area on the bracket where this piece goes, and lube it with high-temp grease or never seize. The caliper has to move each time the brakes are applied. You can be a detective a little bit when taking things apart. Look at the thickness of the inner pad and the outer pad. If one is thicker than the other, then that is a clue the caliper has not been sliding back and forth like it should.

When you are doing the rear, double check the parking brake cables, make sure they are nice and free. It's a common problem for these to stick, and then your back brakes lock up all the time, or they drag all the time. Backing down in the water at a boat ramp doesn't help this situation either, but even trucks that don't haul boats have this problem. The cables are cheap at the store, they sell a bunch of them.

 

[typ4]

Buy full hardware and adjuster kits for the rear, get new wheel cylinders, take them apart and make sure the cups are in the right way, dont ask just take my word on this one.
last 3 of 8 had a cup in wrong
Rock auto is your friend on these parts
i have 3 extra sets, make you a hell of a package deal.

 

[FoolhardyIDI]

This is for the HD brakes

Open files at bottom to see exploded view of drum brakes.

1.Raise and support the vehicle.


2.Remove the wheel and drum.


3.Remove the parking brake lever assembly retaining nut from behind the backing plate and remove the parking brake lever assembly.


4.Remove the adjusting cable assembly from the anchor pin, cable guide, and adjusting lever.


5.Remove the brake shoe retracting springs.


6.Remove the brake shoe hold-down spring from each shoe.


7.Remove the brake shoes and adjusting screw assembly.


8.Disassemble the adjusting screw assembly.


9.Clean the ledge pads on the backing plate. Apply a light coat of Lubriplate®, or equivalent, to the ledge pads (where the brake shoes rub the backing plate).


To install:

10.Apply Lubriplate® to the adjusting screw assembly and the hold-down and retracting spring contacts on the brake shoes.


11.Install the upper retracting spring on the primary and secondary shoes and position the shoe assembly on the backing plate with the wheel cylinder pushrods in the shoe slots.


12.Install the brake shoe hold-down springs.


13.Install the brake shoe adjustment screw assembly with the slot in the head of the adjusting screw toward the primary shoe, lower retracting spring, adjusting lever spring, adjusting lever assembly, and connect the adjusting cable to the adjusting lever. Position the cable in the cable guide and install the cable anchor fitting on the anchor pin.

 

[icanfixall]

That brake shoe hold down spring was my ass kicker till I got the special tool. Hopefully towcat will read this and post a pic of it. Many auto parts stores wont carry it either.

 

[79jasper]

The fronts will still have the wedge pin.

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[FoolhardyIDI]

The tool most people have to do drum brakes look like this. This is not my picture. Could not find my tool to take a picture of it. But it looks the same as this one.

 

[79jasper]

^ That's all I use.
But everyone here swears by one like this. http://www.tooltopia.com/vim-b10.as...YRe6ZnLypF-3nRLsUjSBrll2pOBCHnGiykaAt1E8P8HAQ
I see how it would help.

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[skeeter72]

Thanks guys for all the advice. However a horrible turn events has happened. I was on my to parts store driving down my home street and all of a sudden I come to a sudden stop. It looks like the driver side disc brake is seized to the rotor. I knew the brakes were In need of repair but not this bad. Ironic thing is I was going to fix them Sunday (1st warmish day in awhile). Now I know I need a new rotor, most likely caliper,and who knows what else, I'll find out when I dig into it. With that being do I need to look at anything specific with this kinda of issue (ie differtial, u joints, axel). I did have to gun it pretty hard to get it the side of the road. I'll take some pics when I start, but any pointers would be helpful.

 

[gandalf]

That brake shoe hold down spring was my ass kicker till I got the special tool. Hopefully towcat will read this and post a pic of it. Many auto parts stores wont carry it either.

The special tool is in the center of this picture. Can the job be done without this special tool? Of course it can be, but it's a lot more difficult. There's no sense making a job harder than it needs to be. This tool made things much easier.

Standard advise: Do only one side at a time, so you have a reference to look at when things go sideways. Take lots of pictures, for reference and to post here.

 

[79jasper]

Well I it's more costly, but I would do calipers and rotors on both sides.
It's most likely the caliper. But once you get the caliper off, see how it spins.
Good idea to replace the rubber brake lines also.

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[icanfixall]

That brake shoe hold down tool from tooltopia and what Gandalf posted really does simplify removing the spring. the spring in question is the one that is about in the middle of the brake shoe. It connects to the pin thru the backing plate and nope. That pin is not bent from use. It MUST be bent like that to work. But any other shoe type brake job this pin is straight.