Have you adjusted your rear brakes this year?

[99Yuk]

I know that most people know this, but a few may have forgotten to do it this year?

You know the problem, after a year or so of steady driving, any changes to the braking of your truck is so slow and gradual, that you become aclimatized to the soft braking until one day you realize, that wtf? Why do I have to push down on the pedal so hard/far? You may need new brakes, replacement fluid, etc. But maybe it's as simple as this. It was for me.

The rear brakes are drums and as such are not automatically adjustable.
The thoery goes (as explained by our Old guy Mech) that every time that you put your truck in reverse and then hit the brakes that they are adjusted, but in practice, rust, grime, dust, mud, etc gets in the way and jams that up.


So, he made me take off the rear wheels, and brake drums, and dig out the crap in there, and then put it all back together. Then we went out to the local wal-mart parking lot at night, when mostly empty, and did lots of backing up and then stopping, backing up, then stopping, many, many times.

Then I tried it out the next day. yup, made a difference. My truck stops easier now.

It only takes a few minutes to do, and it may help your braking distance, save wear of the front rotors pads, etc.

/end_rant

 

[grimm]

Yeah... I'm guilty, haha. I haven't had time to service the rear brakes. I did the fronts not too long ago. Maybe I'll set aside some time this weekend for the rear brakes.

 

[Bad bow tie]

Fronts are going to get changed in the very near future. I'll probably take a look at the rear while I'm at it.

 

[CLC]

brakes

Didnt know you can adjust rear disc?

 

[sumo]

Didnt know you can adjust rear disc?

cant, but you can clean the brackets, lube slide pins to prevent rust build up and uneven wear. Infact i got to do this to the fronts as well as a resurface

 

[RSymons]

Wow, did not know this thanks for the info, will be doing it real soon!

 

[kope]

cant you remove the oval rubber boot in the back of the rear drum brake housing and use a flat blade screw driver to turn the "clicker" and manually take out the slack in the pads? thats how i've always done it.

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

eh mine has all new rear drum parts on it now. was way over due. luckily the drums fell right off (almost literally, since they are sometime a real *****)

but noticed on my 2-door you cna't really get to the adjuster from the outside of the drum like on other drum set-ups. sort of dumb.

 

[Danny_Z56]

My Cop Tahoe stops on a dime,no need for adjustment

Good advice though.

 

[99Yuk]

cant you remove the oval rubber boot in the back of the rear drum brake housing and use a flat blade screw driver to turn the "clicker" and manually take out the slack in the pads? thats how i've always done it.

I think that your right. At least that's the theory. But if you live anywhere it rains and there is mud, or anywhere there is snow and salt, alot of crud builds up in there and the clicky wheel thingy doesn't spin anymore. In practise you still end up having to take off the drums to clean out the crap.

At least I did. Then again, I'm in the Great White North where Road Salt runs through our veins, and we only have two months of bad skiing.

---------- Post added at 08:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:05 PM ----------

My Cop Tahoe stops on a dime,no need for adjustment

Good advice though.

I've often wondered how well those departments kept up on maintenance of their vehicles. I see ex-RCMP vehicles come up in the auction every once in a while. I usually steer clear of them. You gotta believe that that motor has been ridden hard and put away wet. Still nice find. Especially if it stops on a dime! Mine even after the adjustment still has a spongy feel to it compared to my previous vehicles. BTW, I like your crash bars on your bumper. I can't believe they didn't take those off when selling it!

 

[Danny_Z56]

You gotta believe that that motor has been ridden hard and put away wet.

Yeah they normally are....Good thing they are built and maintained for that

My motor has 140K on it,120K was spent under a cops foot.Runs 100%,and no leaks of any kind...Oh and its a '99.

I could tell you all about my many other ex-police vehicles as well,but i'd rather not get into it.(pretty much nothing but good things to say).

I would much rather buy a ex-police vehicle than a used "civilian throw away sh*t box" anyday....

 

[rxphiler]

I adjusted my brakes this week....and replaced front rotors (slotted cross drilled-ebc green stuff pads, new shoes on rear and new drums on the rear and cross drilled the drum(saw a few articles about this so thought I would try it) also new rear wheel cylinders and adjusts! so mine stops reaaaallllyyy well now. I put pics if anyone is interested.

 

[yukonaetahoe]

I adjusted my brakes this week....and replaced front rotors (slotted cross drilled-ebc green stuff pads, new shoes on rear and new drums on the rear and cross drilled the drum(saw a few articles about this so thought I would try it) also new rear wheel cylinders and adjusts! so mine stops reaaaallllyyy well now. I put pics if anyone is interested.

Yea, were can I see them???

 

[99Yuk]

I adjusted my brakes this week....and replaced front rotors (slotted cross drilled-ebc green stuff pads, new shoes on rear and new drums on the rear and cross drilled the drum(saw a few articles about this so thought I would try it) also new rear wheel cylinders and adjusts! so mine stops reaaaallllyyy well now. I put pics if anyone is interested.

Cool, stopping well is good! You drilled holes in your drums???? And you say it works good???? Huh...I've never thought/heard of that. Can you show us the pics of that? Maybe even links to the resources that you were reading?

Are you liking the drilled drums? Or is to early to tell yet. doesn't that just eat up your shoes? IDK More input.......please.

 

[sumo]

I dont know about drilling drums. That just sounds like a way for more Crud to Build up in there and make something Wear out faster. Brake dust alone has a tendency to build up in there and not go anywhere, cant imagine what sand, pebbles would do. chew up shoes faster?

 

[rxphiler]

I will post some pics later on today. I forgot to mention I also did the SS brake lines also. I was just fed up with the crapping stopping power of my truck and didnt want to spend the money on big brake kit or rear disc conversion. There is a website CHtopping that talks about drum drilling, www.tffn.net , also has some information and I found some info on it when I searched a CJ forum. I just figured the drums were cheap why not try it. I will also put up pics of my front set up later today. And yes so far I love it but we will have to see how long it will last.

 

[rxphiler]

Okay here are some Pics and 99YUK sorry about the thread jack. Just back ground info on the drum drilled between the fins one top and bottom every 3-4 inches. I used a very technical measuring device... the uncut top of a tube of gasket maker!!! After drilling the holes I took a dremel with a small cone attachment and chamfered the hole so they wouldnt have any sharp edges. I cleaned the whole drum set up degreased,scraped wiped down and put on new springs-pads-wheel cylinder and of course drums. And yup new brake fluid also.

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

be sure to let us know if the drilled drums work any better or worse. bet you love those new front rotors. felt a major improvement with my slotted ones.

truck stops great now for rolling on 35's. think i managed to warp on of the turned drums though. throw some new ones on it sometime soon.

 

[99Yuk]

Okay here are some Pics and 99YUK sorry about the thread jack. Just back ground info on the drum drilled between the fins one top and bottom every 3-4 inches. I used a very technical measuring device... the uncut top of a tube of gasket maker!!! After drilling the holes I took a dremel with a small cone attachment and chamfered the hole so they wouldnt have any sharp edges. I cleaned the whole drum set up degreased,scraped wiped down and put on new springs-pads-wheel cylinder and of course drums. And yup new brake fluid also.

No worries about the thread jack. That's one of the reasons why I supported this site. People are free to post up what they are doing without fear! That's awesome. For a geek like me to post up some wierd arcane experiment that I'm running on my truck without fear, that's a good environment!


As for the drilled drums, I showed our Old Guy Mech. He's seen this before. (He's an old cat from the 60's) He figures that stopping power is going to be great because the shoes have something extra to bite onto. However, he figures that you should post up in three months or even six months pics of those same shoes. He figures they will wear way faster. But it works. He won't let me do that to my truck because it works too well... without rear antilock's in the winter (which is like 9 months a year up here), they will lock up too easily causing a loss of controll on the snow and ice. But for sunnier climates with dry asphalt and you don't mind replacing shoes more often, it works. I mostly listen to the old guy because, we'll he's older and has plenty of experience.

 

[rxphiler]

Yeah here in Charleston I dont have to worry about Snow. lol. I will post a pic in a few months and see about the wear. But I dont think it will show much difference because I only haul the boat, trailer and trash off with the truck.