Speaking of how-tos, the 'squeaking' of my rear brakes has become horrid, so i want to replace them. only troubles is i only know how to do disc brakes. any chance i can get some how-to help on the drum brakes?

 

damn, no one knows how to change out the rear brake shoes?

 

Ive changed a few drum brakes. Not on my neon yet but soon. Obiously only do one side at a time. That way, if you forget how to put it back together, you can look at the other side for reference. The ones that i have done dont need any special tools. People recommend a spring holder to put the retaining clips back on but a pair of pliers work fine. I dont know if you have the the brake pads yet but when you buy thme, pick up the ew spring kit too. Might as well replace them now so you dont have to tear them apart later. As far as how-to, its pretty self explainitory. If you have a hynes or chilton manual, read up on it in there. If not, its not anything you cnat figre out. Plan on about an hour job give or take any problems. Make sure that you dont have your ebrake on either. It will push the shoes out. Im not sure if theres anything special that you have to do to get the drums off, but they'll probably be on there pretty good. Just use a rubber mallet to break em lose. Hope this helps and good luck

http://forum.2gn.org/viewtopic.php?t=21184

 

i did mine, by following how they were on and redid the steps. i had my chilton's book for help. But, i messed up my ebrake. it doesnt grip as hard as it should

 

You should be able to adjust the ebrake. Your chiltons should tell you how.

 

yah, but im lazy. it still has a grip, but not as great as when i got her.

 

I did my rear drum brakes a couple of times already... and i do admit, it's a pita. I'll say if it's your first time allow yourself more of a 2 hour for first time. Also if you haven't remove you drum for like a few years then give yourself another extra hour. I got my neon used at 65k and the drum basically all rusted and taking it off took like an hour with a rubber mallet and prying... I thought i was doing it wrong but turns out it's just on there so damn tight. Haynes manual works fine at explaining. basic tool box tools would be sufficient and get yourself some good pliers though because you'll be doing some hard pulling of the spring to put them back on. oh yeah... release your ebrake and then see if your drum would rotate by spinning it with your hand. If it won't rotate then you need to remove a rubber thingy on the back (facing inside of the car) and use a flathead screwdriver to adjust it loose. (nswap: you can adjust the star adjuster on the back of the drum brake to make your drum brake tighter) then your drum brake should come right out of it if you can turn it by hand. Also, don't do what i did... which is pump the brake after removing the drum... took me a whole day of work to get the master cylinder in right and bleed the brake lines. So good luck on it... any problems just pm me and again they're a pita [:@]

 

oh yeah... one more thing... your squeaking of your drum brake is probably due to brake dust... so even if you replace it and everything... it'll come back in a few months... and you'll have to reclean your drum again... so don't change your drum if it's still good thinking a new one would stop the squeak... because i've tried []. just get brake cleaner and sand paper to sand the drum down

 

Hey there,

I just got done installing a new set of wheel cylinders in my 2001 Dodge Neon. I've never installed brakes in a car so I'm using a Chiltons manual to guide me.

Now I'm done installing everything. All I need to do is bleed the brakes. Before I ask my wife to help me with this two person job, I'd like to be sure I'm doing it right. The bleeder screw is the part that is screwed onto the Wheel cylinder, correct?

If so, am I supposed to pump the brakes three times, hold the pedal in, then loosen the bleeder screw until the air turns into fluid, re-tighten the bleeder screw & then start again?

Should I turn the car on in order to get the ABS going?