Front brake problem

P

Peyton

Senior Member
Front brakes will grab quickly and then break loose making a rasping/ scraping sound on occassion when hard braking.

Pulled drums and noted that backing plates are not loose and brake linings look good. I did file the lining edges just a bit to see if the shoes/ linings might seat better in the drums when when braking. This did not appear to help much.

The linings are still thick and look relatively clean. Estimate that I've got somewhere between 35 and 40 thousand miles on them.
Would sure appreciate your thoughts on this.

Peyton
 
Maybe check your front wheel bearing pre-load? Could be the bearing is loose allowing the brake drum to wobble?
 
How do your drums look? Are there any ridges or groves? Cast iron or steel.

We had a grabbing problem a few years ago. Turned drums (cast iron) than replaced shoes and springs. I did not want to fool around hoping it was miner. Problem gone! Great brakes that hopefully will out last me. Enjoy.
 
Hmm, thats strange. My first thought is a bad bearing, but, that should have been found by now. Does the pedal change at all when this happens ?
 
Thanks Will N, WHN and Patrick L.

The drums look okay. I removed the front drums again today to see if there was any evidence of damage. Saw none. Then reinstalled drums and referenced Les Andrews for bearing preload. Checked for wobble and it was negligible.

Readjusted the brakes and noticed that rear adjusting posts sunk pretty far into the backing plate when adjusted --- one reached its limit. Suggests that the rear linings have pretty much reached the end of their life cycle. I believe the rear brakes are adjusted sufficient to work for the time being. Will fix later.

I believe the front brakes were doing all the work prior to today. Drove the car around the block a few times and braked hard. Braking seems to be okay.

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving and thanks again.

Peyton
 
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