OMG I can't believe I was driving on these brakes!!!
 

Ok guys.... I was driving around in the 2 ft of snow we got here in Calgary this past weekend when all of a sudden my truck started, not pulsing, not shuddering, but THUMPING when I hit the brakes. The pedal got a bit, not very, soft and then things would just grab.. it was like someone was hitting my truck.

I limped home very very carefully and tried to figure out what was going on. Oh, I didn't mention that it is about -22 F here currently.

I got the truck safely into the garage and started removing wheels one by one (of course I wasted hours on this site researching what could be wrong - yes I will be changing the rotors as I suspect they are on their last legs too....warped and cracked). Anyhow, the last one I remove, driver's side rear, I take off the drum and ...what the heck is that? There is a huge chunk, like the entire piece of braking material from the brake shoe, sitting IN the drum. The shoes are completely and utterly missing any brake material. I wonder how long I have been driving like this....OMG!!!

So looks like a big brake overhaul for me. I'm starting with the rears, then will do the fronts soon after. WOW.

Take a look at the pics.

Brian

holy cow! glad your safe. thats just nuts

Wow.. I bet your drums are F**** up. Maybe for the new ones get Rivited on and not glued. Maybe the glue cant stick when its that cold, or maybe they were made on a Monday. Who knows. Good thing your ok.

How often did you check on your rears? I'd go and change EVERYTHING IN THE REARS. Springs, wheel cylinders, EVERYTHING. Glad not only that your still alive, but that you didn't take anyone out in the process. Dodged a big bullet (no pun intended). So what brand were the shoes so I don't buy them? Please don't say valuecraft!

Why change everything? That's extreme and a waste of money. Sure the springs come with the shoes kits, but the wheel cylinders as well? Perhaps to upgrade to the ¾-ton, but otherwise there's no real reason to do so.

Overall, it looks to me like everything was working fine. The wear pattern is consistent but the owner needs to be more proactive in maintenance and inspection.

I was just saying to change everything because of his lack of maintenance and to upgrade the wheel cylinders. All the springs are only about 10 bucks a set anyways. Not to expensive when you think about how much your deductible would be if you wrecked. I'm just sayin'...

not really that expensive. just the drums that get ya.

harware was like 27 bucks for both sides
pads were 25 or so
Drums- 36 each


so that is about 125 bucks. not to bad, but its not the wheel cylinder included.

wow! i had a buddy who had a 87 mustang gt and the brakes got so bad he had to down shift to get stopped

Ok... I bought the truck back in September. '99 Ram 1500 with 140k miles on it. From the inspection report, I knew that the rear cylinders were in need of replacement soon and the e-brake was not working properly.

I drive this behemoth about 1x per week and I think I have not even put 600 miles on it since I bought it. Hence, the lack of "regular" maintenance.

I have no idea how old the brakes were, or what brand... for all I know, the drums may even be stock...who knows.

All I know is that I will be replacing the drums, shoes and springs and the wheel cylinders (since I will have everything torn apart anyhow).

Trust me, if I drove the truck more than I do, and I suspected anything, I would have done it long ago. However, I had absolutely NO indication that this was going on. No squealing, no shuddering, pulsing...nothing...just all of a sudden.

I appreciate all the thoughts and concerns and YES I am VERY glad that I didn't take anyone out driving around like this.

Will update once I do the rears ...hopefully tonight!

Oh, I agree that the springs are cheap insurance, and I always change them out anyway. Guess I was still slow from lack of morning coffee, because on this forum and another forum I'm on, too many people advocate the owner spent a shiat ton of money rather than diagnosing and fixing the problem correctly. A great example is master cylinders and wheel cylinders. Yeah, just chuck it rather than rebuilding what you have, because much of the aftermarket replacement parts are Chinese made garbage. I learned that with U-Joints this last summer and told the parts guy to never, ever think I'll "save a buck" getting the cheaper part. Especially when it comes to steering and drivetrain parts.