ggzilla Posted July 21, 2012 Report Share Posted July 21, 2012 so monkey, you didn't back the adjusters all the way in, and THEN adjust the brakes? Adjustment is a key step in the process, otherwise they will drag or won't work. Quote Link to comment
metalmonkey47 Posted July 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Sorry guys been a little off it lately. Datsunaholic, thanks for the info on adjustment! I'm gonna go over them again and give that a shot. It's pretty much the same as what I did, but not exactly 100%. Figbuck, glad I'm not the ONLY person to hate drum brakes. I've never really had this much of a problem out of any of my Datsuns, but hot damn, drum brakes really suck.... Datsundash, fuuuccccck you! I thought everyone finally forgot about it :rofl: GGzilla, when I started the adjustment, the adjuster was turned in all the way. I tried driving it with the adjuster turned in all the way to see if it would make any difference in the dragging, but I just simply had no brakes :poke: I'm gonna go ahead and assume I have a bent backing plate. It's not that hard to change, thank GOD. I just have to find one. And my shoes are under lifetime warranty (hoorah) from Autozone. I think they're manufactured by Albany? Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 poking me with a stick? I tried driving it with the adjuster turned in all the way to see if it would make any difference in the dragging, but I just simply had no brakes :poke: Yes, that's because turned in all the way means "not adjusted". After you do that, and find there is no dragging, you turn it out until adjusted. It's not clear whether you have done that yet ...but maybe you have. Quote Link to comment
metalmonkey47 Posted July 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 poking me with a stick? Yes, that's because turned in all the way means "not adjusted". After you do that, and find there is no dragging, you turn it out until adjusted. It's not clear whether you have done that yet ...but maybe you have. Clicked the wrong face :geek: Whatever, ggzilla I poked you with a stick :poke: :poke: :poke: :poke: I turned in the adjuster, the brake continued to drag. I figured I'd give it a shot and try driving a few feet and braking to try re-centering the shoes but it still drags. It was not easy trying to re-adjust a dragging brake since you can't actually tell when it was tightening on the drum. Quote Link to comment
Guest kamakazi620 Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 poking me with a stick? Yes, that's because turned in all the way means "not adjusted". After you do that, and find there is no dragging, you turn it out until adjusted. It's not clear whether you have done that yet ...but maybe you have. poking me with a stick? Yes, that's because turned in all the way means "not adjusted". After you do that, and find there is no dragging, you turn it out until adjusted. It's not clear whether you have done that yet ...but maybe you have. thats a stick??? i thought is was a turd............ Quote Link to comment
metalmonkey47 Posted July 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Taking it to a friend to verify tomorrow. We're gonna put it up on his lift in his shop, pull the drums, and turn them on his lathe and see if we find anything. It'll also be a good time to straightedge the backing plate and see if it's bent. Quote Link to comment
metalmonkey47 Posted July 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 Okay so you guys are gonna love this. We pulled it apart and measured the shoe/drum tolerances with some cool old school micrometers he had. Then we put the drum on the lathe....... Video.. http://s1095.photobu...nt=IMG_1055.mp4 If you watch the video in fullscreen, the drum is so out of round that you can see it wobble on the lathe as if the drum was loose. It's only contacting about 25% of the drum every rotation. After turning the drum for a minuet or so, the difference was phenomenal. It was only dragging half the revolution now. So needless to say I ordered a drum. Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 Can't tell from the video. Is the drum flange bent? Quote Link to comment
datsunaholic Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 OK, I had this happen. Better yet I know how it happened. Some aftermarket drums have a deeper recess where the wheel bolts onto the drum face. This isn't usually a problem, but a lot of aftermarket wheels flare out from the mounting surface at a shallower angle than others. This means the wheel contacts the drum not at the center, flat flange, but at the raised edge. With the wheel loose (or off) the drum would turn freely. but tighten the lug nuts and instead of tightening against the drum flange and hub flange, it "springs" the wheel in and bends the outer part of the drum inward. This makes it contact the side of the shoes, as well as quickly warps the drum. If you suspect something like that is happening I suggest blueing the wheel to drum contact, and making sure there isn't contact at that raised lip on the drum face. Quote Link to comment
metalmonkey47 Posted July 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 The flange may possibly be bent. The drum is OLDDDD. It's already worn past the allowable machining tolerances. I'm not sure if the drum is bent from what you're describing Datsunaholic, or if it's just very badly warped from heat expansion. Once I get my new drum, I'll know for sure if that was the issue. Either way, I needed a drum. Quote Link to comment
Eagle_Adam Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 shipping would blow, but i have a drum and a backing plate you can have if you pay for shipping - PM me Quote Link to comment
metalmonkey47 Posted July 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 I *may* need them. I put on the drum, re-adjusted, and it STILL drags. Gotta be the backing plate. I'm gonna try something with it. More on that later. Quote Link to comment
metalmonkey47 Posted July 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 So it's killing me. I pulled the backing plate and EVERYTHING off. Played with it a little bit and made it worse. I need a backing plate :crying: Driving me bat shit crazy, Quote Link to comment
metalmonkey47 Posted August 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 Wellll er uh, I fixed it :geek: Moved the trailing shoe to the leading position. In the FSM, the skinny end of the shoe is on the front towards the piston on the wheel cylinder. With mine in that position it drags? Moved it around and it's just dandy. Stops like a Corvette (maybe a broke Corvette..) The backing plate isn't bent anymore. It had a small bend that I found by pulling the hub/brakes and spinning the new drum across the backing plate by hand for a minuets. Fixed all the high spots. Still dragging after which is when I decided to try the brake swapping. Quote Link to comment
chester Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 I am glad you got it figured out. I will say though I would do at least front discs I did a few months back and it is the best thing I could have done. The only thing is price, but when it comes to stopping and safety money isn't an issue. (for me anyway) Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 glad to hear it is fixed. Quote Link to comment
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