Shop help. What would you do?

[HoosierJeeper]

Backtrack to June of this year...had a rear wheel cylinder leak so I took the 96 Cherokee to a shop to get new brake lines and new shoes/drums on the rear.

Picked the Jeep up, noticed a day or two after that there's a chirping noise while driving from the rear and goes away as soon as I hit the brakes. It changes with temp and humidity, so some days it's quiet, other's its noisy. Figured the shoes were too tight or the drums are warped. (Definitely a brake issue) Took it back to the shop and the owner took it apart, didn't see anything wrong so he just put it back together. No surprise...it came back. Took it back in and he sent the drums out to be machined, he said they were so bad that he had to get new ones. Great! He put new drums and shoes/hardware on, and the noise was gone for a week or two and now it came back. This was early August.

I intended to take it back, but other stuff got in the way and we just couldn't be down a vehicle. Plus this Jeep was out of commission for 3 weeks while it got new floor pans. Now, the noise seems to have really diminished. I hear it on occasion for a couple seconds and it goes away. He's never ridden with me to hear it, but I feel like I probably couldn't replicate it. I figure it's possible that the drums have self adjusted and that's the end of it. The other reservation I have about taking it back is I think the guy could be a loose cannon. I would even settle for a refund and take it elsewhere.

What would you guys do? Thanks...

 

[old1]

I think I would turn the radio up a bit and forget it unless it gets really loud.

 

[Slick17601]

Run it till she blows.

 

[zrxkawboy]

agree with both of the above

 

[Audios]

If you cant replicate it on a consistent basis, theres no way youre going to get your money back. Id just deal with it until it gets worse, or wears away that tiny piece or metal/brake lining that is causing the issue.

 

[andyd]

Lessee. 21 yr old Jeep from WI. Chirp that goes away when brakes applied. There is something up with the rear drum brakes. A collection of springs and widgets hung on a piece of rusty sheet metal that used to be a backing plate.The mechanic replaced everything but that because R+R'ing BP would be opening up a huge can of worms. Stuff like this is what gives old heaps, er Jeeps, their character

 

[JC1]

Originally Posted By: Audios
Id just deal with it until it gets worse, or wears away that tiny piece or metal/brake lining that is causing the issue.


+1

 

[HoosierJeeper]

I'm ok with leaving it, could it cause any other damage?

 

[andyd]

Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
I'm ok with leaving it, could it cause any other damage?
That is an intangible. If you're obsessing over this, pull the drums and look for shiny spots where things are rubbing or fatigue cracks where there is bending.

 

[StevieC]

What noise?

 

[Nick1994]

I wouldn't worry about it.

I say that as someone with a 96' Cherokee with noisy rear brakes!

A buddy of mine is a mechanic and re-did my rear brakes last winter, now, some times when making left turns and braking the rear brakes squeak. Doesn't bother me.

 

[NYEngineer]

This is exactly why I do most things myself

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
I'm ok with leaving it, could it cause any other damage?


Let's see, it's a 1996 Jeep that you replaced the floor pan due to rot. Does it stop ok? More important how are the brake lines, are they rusting through?. It's a rusted 21 year vehicle in the rust belt, as long as it stops and the brake lines are ok I'd just drive it. I have a 1996 Contour with rear drum brakes. I changed the shoes, drums and brake cylinders with Ford OEM parts I still get occasionally a scraping/thumpingish sound when stopping, same as before I changed the brake parts. As long as it stops I'll not worry. If it's a problem other than a rotted brake line you usually know in advance of a problem brewing and have time to correct it. This is why many mechanics don't want to work on older vehicles from the rust belt, too much of a liability and customers can't understand why their old vehicles don't perform as new.

Whimsey

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: old1
I think I would turn the radio up a bit and forget it unless it gets really loud.
DITTO.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
The other reservation I have about taking it back is I think the guy could be a loose cannon. I would even settle for a refund and take it elsewhere.


Yes, I'd be concerned about that one as well. Not worth the risk. Move on if you don't like his services.

A brake flush may help if it hasn't been done recently.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
I'm ok with leaving it, could it cause any other damage?


Let's see, it's a 1996 Jeep that you replaced the floor pan due to rot. Does it stop ok? More important how are the brake lines, are they rusting through?. It's a rusted 21 year vehicle in the rust belt, as long as it stops and the brake lines are ok I'd just drive it. I have a 1996 Contour with rear drum brakes. I changed the shoes, drums and brake cylinders with Ford OEM parts I still get occasionally a scraping/thumpingish sound when stopping, same as before I changed the brake parts. As long as it stops I'll not worry. If it's a problem other than a rotted brake line you usually know in advance of a problem brewing and have time to correct it. This is why many mechanics don't want to work on older vehicles from the rust belt, too much of a liability and customers can't understand why their old vehicles don't perform as new.

Whimsey


I usually change all the rear parts, including the springs and self adjusters. Then you're suppose to lube certain parts that touch the backing plate. Congrats on the keeping the Contour running, I had a 95 that I gave up on in 2004. But 95 was the first year and the worst one.

 

[dishdude]

Sometimes brakes just make noise, if everything is new and a visual inspection turns nothing up, I agree with the others and I'd ignore it.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Something similar happened to me once, on a ¾ ton Chevy with the Hydro brakes, the shop replaced the Master Cylinder and used two gaskets instead of just one when they re-assembled. It put a constant load on the rear drums, which wore prematurely in a few hundred miles from heat.

The reason it took a few hundred miles is that was the shop's break-in period for new brakes (which were done at the same time), so I was told to basically ignore any minor strangeness (the truck stopped great) until that period had passed.

Their fault, made them pay to fix it.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

It has new brake lines and oddly other than the floor pans it's spotless rust wise. So I think I will just leave it be...thanks!

 

[Kruse]

Swap the rear drums, right to left, left to right, and then re-adjust your rear brakes.
See if the noise moves from side to side or remains in the same spot.
I'd bet money that the noise will go away and then return on the same side, probably a noisy brake shoe that's nothing to worry about.