How long can rear drum brakes last?

[01rangerxl]

My truck has 108K miles and is on its second set of rotors and fourth set of pads in the front. The drums have never been off though...I've just never bothered to take them off because the parking brake holds very strong, and the truck stops fine with no noise or other issues. It has an appetite for pads due to lots of city driving, but the shoes seem fine.

How long can rear drums/shoes potentially last? My current plan is to leave them alone until the parking brake function begins to diminish - no signs of that yet.

I did replace the rear drums on my old truck when it had about 70K on it, but it didn't need it. I was just maintenance happy with that truck since it was my first vehicle.

 

[DrDusty86]

My ranger needed them @ about 275k miles. Hwy driving

 

[ARB1977]

127000 on my drums, there is a inspection hole.

 

[eljefino]

Knock the drums off and put a smidgen of anti sieze on the mounting flange. May save you some grief in the future. If you have to cut your drums off due to them rusting to the axle flanges it will hurt your wallet hard!

While they're off, blow the dust out, and tighten the adjuster a couple clicks.

Rebuilt shoes were ridiculously cheap for two Dakotas and one Ranger of mine and braking improved on all of them! I just get the "silver" from advance for no kidding ten bucks an axle. Think the old shoes get glazed. If the adjuster goes kaput the shoes wear only on the wheel cylinder side of the "arc" and the arc gets misshapen, with fewer square inches of friction rubbing.

I think many DIYers fear drum brakes because of all the crazy springs and funky shaped levers inside. They aren't that bad once you've done a couple.

 

[Chris142]

Rears on my Jeep lasted about 100k

 

[ChiTDI]

My OEMs lasted 18k out of the factory. Turned the drums and replaced with new shoes and they went for over 150k. Go figure.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Knock the drums off and put a smidgen of anti sieze on the mounting flange. May save you some grief in the future. If you have to cut your drums off due to them rusting to the axle flanges it will hurt your wallet hard!

While they're off, blow the dust out, and tighten the adjuster a couple clicks.

Rebuilt shoes were ridiculously cheap for two Dakotas and one Ranger of mine and braking improved on all of them! I just get the "silver" from advance for no kidding ten bucks an axle. Think the old shoes get glazed. If the adjuster goes kaput the shoes wear only on the wheel cylinder side of the "arc" and the arc gets misshapen, with fewer square inches of friction rubbing.

I think many DIYers fear drum brakes because of all the crazy springs and funky shaped levers inside. They aren't that bad once you've done a couple.


I've replaced drums, shoes, and hardware before on a Blazer so I'm not too freaked out by all the springs and such, but I am nervous about messing with something that's working good. On my last truck the hardware was replaced with the shoes, and the new aftermarket auto adjusters never worked right. The shoes would go out of adjustment and no amount of braking in reverse would get them back. I got tired of adjusting the rear brakes with a screwdriver, so I eventually had new hardware installed which fixed it. I never had that issue with the original hardware.

I probably will knock the drums off though just to keep them from seizing to the axles and do some cleaning. My biggest concern is actually where to do it...my driveway has a bit of an incline and the garage has too much stuff in it to fit the truck inside. I can put the front on jack stands, but I don't want to rely on the park pawl and one wheel to hold the truck. I'll probably use the shop at work one weekend. When the time comes for shoes, I'm definitely reusing the old hardware if I can, or buying new OEM stuff if anything looks worn.

 

[Shannow]

90k (km) service on my Nissan, and the front pads are about 1/3 worn, and the drums look new (dusty new).

Rear drums, on a vehicle that's lightly loaded, with load adjusting pressure distribution valve last forever.

 

[Trav]

Quote:
the new aftermarket auto adjusters never worked right. The shoes would go out of adjustment and no amount of braking in reverse would get them back


It sounds that the adjusters were reversed. There is a left and right and its easy to get them mixed up. When they do these are the exact symptoms.

I never had any trouble with brand name aftermarket brake hardware.

 

[mechtech2]

Stock drum adjusters are always too loose. This is understandable because they don't want dragging brakes they er too loose.
This makes them last a lot longer than if set up nice and tight.
Also, weight is transferred up front to the discs when braking, and the rears don't have to do much.
Rear drums can last 200k+.
If they are truly worn out in as low as 80k, something is wrong.

 

[CBR.worm]

My first tundra (my last vehicle w/ drum brakes in back) got 80K out of the first set of drums, 80K out of the second, I sold it before replacement time again. The front pads wore out like clockwork every 22K.

Most weekends I pulled a 7x16 dual axle enclosed trailer full of race bikes (motorcycles), race tires (a few hundred usually), a tire machine, compressor, etc a thousand miles or less. at the time I was running about 50K miles a year.

Without the trailer (which did have brakes) I imagine they would have lasted a bit longer.

 

[Jim Allen]

My '86 F250 still has the original rear brakes at 140K miles (showing about 60 percent still remaining) but it has a load sensitive proportioning valve and a lot of freeway (albeit towing) miles. It had a set of pads up front about 15 years ago.

Have 81K on the original front and rear brakes on our 2000 Honda.

A lot depends where and how you drive. City driving is a brake killer as is lots of load carrying or trailer towing (esp. unbraked trailers).

I wouldn't sweat 108K. My advice is to inspect and clean (spray it off with water to wash away the dust, then use brakleen, blow dry), adjust, a touch of lube in the right places and keep going.

 

[onion]

The rear drums on my '85 Buick were worn out at about 140,000 miles.

For my '94 Corsica it was about 150,000. Both vehicles were driven roughly 70% highway, 30% stop & go.

My '01 Lumina has 230,000 and the rear drum brakes still look ok. It's had roughly 90% highway miles over the years.

 

[Warstud]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Knock the drums off and put a smidgen of anti sieze on the mounting flange.


Thinking the same thing!

 

[Ken2]

I'd pull the drums periodically and check that the adjusters are working as they should and everything is OK--no broken springs, etc. Rusty adjusters mean that your rear brakes do little or nothing for you.

Brake life mileage is impossible to estimate. It all depends on where you drive. City driving, hilly driving, towing cause fast brake wear. Long highway trips wear the brakes very little.

Not all automatic drum brake adjusters work by applying the brakes as you're backing. Some work by other means -- Tundra adjusts when the parking brake is applies, and if the parking brake is never used, the rears never get adjusted.

 

[FusilliJerry82]

I'm not the original owner so I'm not 100% sure but I think my 2000 Protege has the original shoes at 186k. At least 75% left. I should completely redo the rears one of these days and make sure they're even doing anything.

 

[MarkM66]

Miles really have nothing to do with brake wear. It's how often you use the brakes.

They could last past the life of the vehicle. Only way to know is to check them.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
My truck has 108K miles and is on its second set of rotors and fourth set of pads in the front. The drums have never been off though...I've just never bothered to take them off because the parking brake holds very strong, and the truck stops fine with no noise or other issues. It has an appetite for pads due to lots of city driving, but the shoes seem fine.

How long can rear drums/shoes potentially last? My current plan is to leave them alone until the parking brake function begins to diminish - no signs of that yet.

I did replace the rear drums on my old truck when it had about 70K on it, but it didn't need it. I was just maintenance happy with that truck since it was my first vehicle.


For me, it always seemed to be 3:1
3 sets of front pads to 1 set of rear shoes. YMMV!

 

[Whimsey]

My 1996 Contour has rear drum brakes which I changed at around 80,000 miles. Not because they were worn but because the brake wheel cylinders were leaking from old age, 14+ years. And since you had to open the drums up you might as well put in new shoes.

Whimsey