Well, I spent the day replacing the rear wheel cylinders on my 72' Maverick. I ended up redoing the rear brake lines as well. I went to put the drums back on so I could bled the brakes, and the driver side drum would not go on. I didn't need to replace the shoes . . . everything looked good. I even adusted the star adjuster all the way back, and the drum still won't go on. I took it apart, and tried it again! Same results! Anybody have any experiences like this before? Any helpful advice would be appreciated. The passenger side went on like butter, and I didn't have to adjust the adjuser back at on it all on that side. I am trying to get this car on the road, so I can use as a daily driver, so I am hoping to get this finished tomorrow.
I would suspect the strut bar(goes between shoes and has a spring at the end and maybe a retainer) has slipped down out of the grove it should be in on the shoe. The other possibility is that the parking brake cable is over adjusted or seized not letting the drum go on. Lance edit: if you would have came to the breakfast I could have fixed your brakes for you. edit: take a picture and post it and I will tell you if something looks out of place
Lance, I needed a good grin, it's been a long week! I guess you already know that if I could have driven it there, I would not have needed it fixed! I wish I could have made it this time, oh well. Back to the brake issue. I am thinking it has to do with the parking brake as well, any clues or suggestions on the parking brake cable? The strut bar appears to be in the right location. I will take it apart again tomorrow afternoon, and then if I still have the same problem I will post a close up picture as you suggested. Thanks again! Dave P.S. Just an FYI, I did the drivers side first and used the Chilton's manual and the passenger side as references. Passenger side is fine.
mg, is the "big shoe, little shoe" correct? not that that will keep the drum from going on...frank...
Unless you messed with the parking brake after you removed the drums, it shouldn't be causing you problems now. If the arm that the emergency brake cable attaches to is seated against the brake shoe, it won't cause a problem. If it is pulled away from the shoe, than it will. The only other things to check is make sure the shoes are resting on the top piviot post. Make sure the wheel cylinder is fully compressed. Make sure that spreader bar is sitting in the grooves. Lastly adjust the self adjuster so that it is fully compressed. These would be the only places the would keep the shoes spread out.
Tip, if you have a battery charger, clamp the ground to the cable and and then juice it with the positive cable( I usally spray the cables with PBblaster,wd40 and let them soak for 15mins). I have seen this method free up seized cables. ANother thought is there a big rust lip on the drum. That could also cause problems. The rust lip would be at the outer edge of the drum, if so have drum turned or at least grind this part out.
I have to admit, I was a little hesitant to start this thread because I felt a little silly, but hey this tip alone is worth it. You never know what you will learn around here! Thanks guys for the advice, I will check it out again later today. Just a FYI, I did check the drum for the rusted lip, and it is fine, so I will have check out the other tips.
It amazes me at times. I am an ASE master tech and have 11 years in the service field and sometimes non mechanics will post stuff that I never would have thought of. It goes both ways Like to add just in case somebody did not get the jist of it, you dont keep the postive attached it will melt the cable, just kinda tap it against it and pull away.Do this several times. If it isnt free by then go buy new cable(s)
i had the exact same problem when i but new shoes on my car before i drove it to georgia from texas.. took me four hours to figure out the wheel cylinder wasnt compressing properly, was seized up.
An Update I just want to say thanks to everyone who took time to reply on this thread. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get this figured out, I took it apart and put it back together a few times tonight without any better results. I am going to drop the car off at the garage tomorrow and let them figure it out, I just don't have the time, and it needs to be done right. I have ordered brake cylinders four times before I got a set that looked liked the ones that came off the car. So, to say the least it has been a flustrating ordeal because my free time is so limited between work and school. Now the good news, I do have a feeling of satisfaction because I bent and intalled my first set of brake lines, and I feel a lot more comfortable taking the drum brakes apart and putting them back together. Getting faster! Thanks again everyone!!!
One last peice of advice. IN very rare cases I have seen the shoe backing be deformed or misboxed(but look really really close) and cause this problem as well. YOu might want to switch shoes from the good side to the bad side and see what happens. Just trying to save ya some bones I know how shops can rape ya.
Dave, Be sure to ask them what they specifically found wrong so you can post it here. You've got us all a little curious now. Hope it doesn't get too costly.
