Cost to service drum brakes?

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So, I've never had a car that I have serviced with drum brakes, they've all been discs since I started wrenching a few years ago. No experience with drums at all.

The Olds has rear drums. When I got new tires installed last week the shop installing them mentioned they are shot, including leaking wheel cylinders.

As I have zero experience with this type of repair...what would I need to know to service the brakes including tools. I know drums can be adjusted, but honestly have no clue what I'm doing with them. Or what an average cost to expect from an independent mechanic for this job. I'm guessing new drums, shoes, and wheel cylinders as these are likely 22 year old originals. What am I forgetting or need to know?
 
You will need to replace vitually everything. New hardware kit with new springs and ajusters,new wheel cylinders and a brake fluid flush, new shoes of course and if it were mine, new drums as well. Parts are not overly expensive. The job can be a pain in the rear if you have never done them.
 
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That's what I was guessing. It looks like I can get a kit from Centric for about $125 or so to replace everything. I just don't know if I need any special tools to put everything together and how to set the adjustment.

That being said, I have a GM service manual on the way, figure it would be better than Haynes and was cheaper to boot.
 
Can you even get the drums off with the tools you have? That would require removing a plug from the backside, turning the star wheel to retract the shoes, and hoping it pulls off.

I think just that will either have you running for a mechanic or deciding this is a horrible dirty mess but I can see everything and figure it out from here.

You could buy a spoon or just wing it with whatever you have handy. The adjustment is the side opposite of the cylinder, it's a threaded rod it will be pretty obvious how it works. You put things together a little loose and it will self adjust.
 
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All you need is a sledgehammer, various pliers and flat screwdrivers, and whatever fastens the wheel cylinder in place.

Take digital pictures before you start and at every step along the way. You can't have too many, but it's not that hard.

The hardest part is banging the old drum off if it's been a while, but the tire store may have done you a favor and already done this.

The best way to imagine things is that you have your two shoes held together in a circle with a couple springs. The wheel cylinder will be on top and an adjuster/parking brake doohickey down low. This varies, slightly, but bear with me. Each works to separate the shoes and help them form a circle. Two little "nails" come through the backing plate and hold this circle of stuff from falling into the dirt. The mess is held to these nails with stubby little springs and "quarter turn" whatzamajiggers. Push in on those springs and you'll observe the nail heads pop out the back of the backing plate. Hold them in place with your other hand and you'll release the tension to turn the doohickeys 1/4 turn and drop all your brake junk in the drive.

From here you can unhook the springs and try to build the same thing with new shoes and hardware. You can, conversely, unhook the springs first. Keep track of the big spring, small spring, hook from the front/ back, and if a spring has any unique geometry that only goes one way, and if/how they interfere with other gizmos you can't name.

The wheel cylinder is the one thing that stays stuck to the backing plate. (Figures!) Unfasten that and stick a new one on.

Some designs are clever enough that you can slither a new cylinder in by simply stretching the shoes apart, but if you've had fluid leaking you want new shoes.

A very very small wheel cylinder leak (weep) is sort of normal-- they have seals that need to lubricate themselves. If you have brake fluid dripping you'll also have brake dust make these "mud" clumps everywhere-- bad news, but easily cleaned and fixed.

There are special tools to tension springs but you can get by with screwdrivers and pliers, though it's about the limit of their grip. Wear safety glasses.

There have to be 1000 videos of this on youtube, go take a look at a bunch and form a consensus.
 
Btw the shoes may be the same or you may have a leading/trailing shoe. The leading shoe goes toward the front of the car and will be the smaller of each pair. If the replacement shoes are the same length/ thickness then don't worry about it.
 
I can't tell if that hardware kit includes the star ajusters for each side. I would replace those and use some sil glide on the ajuster hub.
 
Indy mechanic charged me $400 to replace everything on the rear of my Taurus when I ran the oem pads too long and ground into the drums and eventually leaked at the cylinders.
 
Drum brakes are like a puzzle. Make sure you do one side at a time so you can look at the other side if you get stuck.
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
Btw the shoes may be the same or you may have a leading/trailing shoe. The leading shoe goes toward the front of the car and will be the smaller of each pair. If the replacement shoes are the same length/ thickness then don't worry about it.


I did drum brakes for the first time this weekend (I hate them, 3rd world cost cutting measure just like timing belts). The guide I was using had them backwards.
 
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Originally Posted By: Kool1
Drum brakes are like a puzzle. Make sure you do one side at a time so you can look at the other side if you get stuck.


^^ This.
 
Originally Posted By: Gabe
Originally Posted By: Kool1
Drum brakes are like a puzzle. Make sure you do one side at a time so you can look at the other side if you get stuck.


^^ This.


Or take pictures if you've never done this job before
 
Originally Posted By: Kool1
Make sure you do one side at a time so you can look at the other side if you get stuck.


this +1
 
You will need flare wrenches for the lines and plan on breaking then replacing some hard lines when you remove the wheel cylinders. Needle nose pliers and a cheap drum brake tool set could come in handy.
 
Yikes drum brakes..just glad mine are still good..lol..id get an indy to do em or at least get them to quote you on it..22 yr old car will be tough..might be worth not taking on the hassle..but that depends on you!
 
Drums can be turned(resurfaced) a couple of times, after that they have to be replaced cause they are to thin(so I don't know which is your case). Usually a drum, a shop will charge about $120 or $150 per drum for a new one. Those are easy just to buy new ones and pop on yourself, for less than $100 each. But if you need wheel cylinders and shoes, that's more work.

One time I was going to have a shop, install new shoes on my rear wheels, and I was going to just bring them a new set of drums, to pop on since they were doing the shoe work. They wouldn't touch it, if I brought in my own drums. Which I thought was silly, cause its not technical to pop on a new drum. They wanted that money from selling me drums.

However, if I bought the druns and popped on my self and then took to the shop for shoe replacement, that would solve the issue. Silly if your think about it.

Anyway I just did the whole job myself, but sometimes I prefer to have a shop do it cause I'm getting old and hate working on stuff unless I have to.
 
I many cases its just new shoes. They sell a few tools for drum brakes. You basically need to push the level away with a thin screwdriver and turn the star wheel with a tool or wide screwdriver. Then the drum will come off.

Remember the star wheel is different on L vs R side.

If the wheel cylinders are leaking (more than weeping) then replace those.

Take a picture before taking it apart. The parking brake cable will most likely be in there also.
 
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