Right rear wheel getting hot

F

Ferretabilly

Junior Member
Hello,
The rear right wheel on my 1953 Customline is getting hot.
The brakes are new all around (shoes, wheel brake cylinder, all springs, rear brake hose and brake line), and the rear drums are machined.
Everything works, the wheel rotates freely.
It can't be the wheel bearing, I drove with the rear brake completely cleaned out, and nothing got hot.
I replaced the rear brake rotor again today just in case.
No improvement either.
There are no signs of wear on the lining or drums.
I've also already removed the handbrake.
Is there anything else I haven't noticed?
Many thanks
 
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I think you have a bad wheel brake cylinder, preventing the shoes from retracting.

"Quote:
Originally Posted by rockfla View Post
Hey
Ronnieroadster
Did you find the "new" cups to be "shorter" in length than the good ole' USA ones??? IF so can you let us know how the NAPA ones turn out. I believe this discussion on the "new" wheel cylinders was had on a previous thread and I can't remember IF it was the cups that were different OR the hole for the fluid was in a slightly different location and this was causing cylinders to leak IF the cups got pushed back too far???
Yes the new cups are shorter they measure .200 compared to the US which are .360. The tapered area of the short cup is .130 wide the US cup is .230 wide.
Another difference the shorter cups have a series of of ribs around that shorter .170 tapered area this makes the sealing surface almost non existent.
There's also another problem I'm experiencing with the wheel cylinders they do not retract correctly compared to the original US wheel cylinders. This creates a dragging brake shoe issue
I'm going to check and see what NAPA has will give an update once i have them in hand.
This year makes it 50 years I've been driving the roadster updating parts and having an issue sure sucks. I'm going to rebuild the original wheel cylinders to get things back to normal.
Thanks to everyone for your input. I'm off to NAPA
Ronnieroadster"

Glenn
 
Could it be that the right rear wheel cylinder is NOT releasing, as it should,
and causing the fluid to keep pressure on those brake shoes on that RR ?



.
 
you might want to jack up the rear end and see what's up with the brakes while the engine's running and in gear but the car is stationary.
 
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Id jack up the car and have somebody step on the brakes and see that they are stopping and "immediately" releasing, compare the bad wheel to another wheel. The only thing I can think of is a restriction in the wheel cylinder or brake line. I was an ASE brake mechanic for 30-years, I honestly have never had a problem like you're having. It's strange that if it is hanging up that you don't see any wear on the shoes or drum. If it had a wheel cylinder or axle seal leaking onto the shoes it will cause the brakes to lock up but you've inspected the shoes and that's not the problem. I've seen backing plates get wear grooves in them that shoes could get hung up in, but I've never really seen the grooves cause a problem, but it still bothered me. I used to weld the worn grooves up and grind then smooth. You can take wheel cylinder a part and inspect it, make sure the hole for the line is bored cleanly into the center of the cylinder. Check the pistons to make sure they move freely. I don't know what to think, I'm just guessing. I used to see a new problem constantly that I had never seen before.
 
Did you repair the pads the brake shoes rest/slide on when you did the brakes? Grooves in the pads can cause the shoes to hang up on release and cause problems.

Worn pads can be built up with weld and dressed flat with a grinder.

Oops, guess @Flathead Fever covered that while I was typing.

Those rear backing plates also have adjustable anchor pins and new shoes should be centered on initial installation.
 
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Did you check the metal lines running along the rear axle when you redid the brakes? The passenger side could be mostly clogged, holding pressure in the wheel cylinder when you let off the brake pedal.
 
Hi all,

I wanted to give you an update because the problem has been solved.

The rear brake pad was the culprit.

After various checks, we braked the wheel again with the engine running, using only the brake drum, and then released it for about a minute.

After a while, the drum became so hot that it was impossible to put on without gloves.

After we removed the drum and felt the pads, the rear pad was really warm on the underside.

Luckily, I found an old, worn pad in the box (I don't throw anything away).
There are no more problems with the original old pads.

They were new brake shoes from Bendix, and upon closer inspection, the shoe is narrower at the top than the original.

Thank you for the helpful tips.
 
Glad you found the problem and posted the results too. I'm unclear however on what is narrower, "upon closer inspection, the shoe is narrower at the top than the original." Is it the slot in the top part that accepts the brake cylinder clevis ends or what please?
 
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Hi,

I attached a picture of the area what I mean.

Also the lining a bit was thicker.
 

Attachments

  • Brake shoe top.jpg
    Brake shoe top.jpg
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