brake pulling

[Frank D.]

Re: brake pulling

I've used the NAPA better value brake shoes for 40 years with no problem, never felt the need for an NOS set and fluid soaked shoes will definitely cause issues - I usually put blue tape over the lining of the shoes up until the last minute of installation whereupon I remove it and hit the shoes with brake cleaner. The process described above is "arcing" the shoes to increase the initial contact area and that was routinely done years ago, but now after a few hundred miles of moderate braking they will arc themselves.

[Keith R.]

Re: brake pulling

Okay, sanity check needed to see if I learned anything in High School Physics. In theory, if both front drum brakes were properly adjusted for even braking, if the right rear drum was overly adjusted compared to the left rear, wouldn't the car do a slow pull to the right? And to continue this line of thinking, if the owner (thinking that the pull was due to a front brake adjustment issue) were to over-adjust the left front drum to compensate for the pull to the right without adjusting the rear brakes, would the car not dive down on the left front, possibly lock up the tire and still pull to the right?

[Edward J.]

Re: brake pulling

Keith, your thinking is almost correct, adjustment is so important on these dinosaurs, but if air bubbles are trapped in the system somewhere the creates a pulling problem also. Also if your brakes drums have been worn beyond the min.thickness, the contact pattern on the shoes may not be the same, there is more than one issue to cause pulling. GM use to make over sized brake shoe linings that have had brake drums machined. I can tell you more also, you see why it’s important to rebuild the complete system in the beginning so you have a system you can rely on. Years ago you had nothing but quality parts, today it’s a guessing game for those guys that think a brake shoe is a brake shoe.

[Steven B.]

Re: brake pulling

Does it make a difference in performance if the brake linings are bonded vs. riveted?

Keith, no change if both properly manufactured (total fill, no cracks, etc.) and installed. I worked in brake manufacturing early on and there was no difference in performance or reliability tests, long term and short term, for either type bonded or riveted.
Steve

[Keith R.]

Re: brake pulling

I believe that I've found the issue. Two primary shoes were on the left front and two secondary shoes on the right front. The secondary shoes have a larger friction area than the primaries so to my way of thinking, it would naturally pull to the right with this configuration. The rear axle was reversed as well but just the opposite - two secondaries on the left rear and two primary shoes on the right rear. The primary and secondary springs were mixed up as well. The front had two primary springs (black) on either side and the rear axle had two secondary springs (gray) on either side. This could also be a factor as the spring rates differ although the primary and secondary springs are both the same dimensions.

[Frank D.]

Re: brake pulling

I don't even want to know how that happened.

[Keith R.]

Re: brake pulling

No Frank, you don't!