A post about 'if it ain't broke dont fix it'

Per sig
Have not posted much. Not many issues I could not resolve with 'search'.
Truck still running great with just hitting 90K

New problem I cannot resolve.
Issue- Rear drums are hot, very hot after a short run with very little use of brakes

I took the truck to a local shop that was suppose to be good. Used them for work on other trucks.

I wanted the rear shoes replaced - at 90K with OEM shoes I thought I should change them. Since I pull a horse trailer -- good brakes are important
WX was bad here so had the shop do it.

BAD
Got the truck back after a week. The Ebrake did not work..all the way to the floor.
They put it on the rack and cranked on the adjusters.. I could not see what they were doing..

Got it home.. Right rear smoking -lots burned brake smell - Left had some smoke . Drums were HOT as H.

Jacked up rear end , put in N , wheels would not turn. Both wheels off the ground. Limited slip rear have to have both wheels off the ground
Took off tires, could not remove the drums.. LOCKED. Was able to stick a rod in the back plate adjuster hole to release the adj paw. Turned the adj wheel to loosen the brakes.

Right one seems strange had to turn it opposite from the Left. Both drums off
Looked at the right assy, then the left, noted the adjuster on the right was in backwards.
The adj paw would never work the starr wheel since the spur tabs were facing the wrong way.

They never cleaned the adjusters as wire brush and grease. Looked at the installation all looked good.
Put it back together with the adjusted set to 1 turn from zero.. so loose.

It was difficult to turn the wheel with both drums installed and all 4 wheels on.. could not hear the drag as I turned the adjuster. I put a paint dot on each adj starr wheel to give me a reference of how many turns I made.
I set each to 4 turns.
Ebrake cable loosened.

Did a 5 mile run. Stopped and check the drums, left warm but not burning hot, right was very hot. When it cooled went for another run without ANY braking, rolled to a stop to check drums, right very hot left warm but OK

I took it home, removed the tires and drums. Could not determine what was dragging causing a hot drum.

I called around to a few shops - one advised to install ONE drum , bolt in place no wheels.
Right side, Tighten and listen as turned, sort of worked, I could hear the drag. Counted turns backed off one.
Removed the drum then did the same with the left side

Assume I was good to go.
Nope still HOT with no braking

I have verified the brake shoes are on correct -short shoe to the front, long shoe to rear (lining ) ebrake cable loose.

Still HOT cannot place a finger on the drum.

I have done this about 4 times lost count.

I keep thinking the return spring at the top of the shoes under the wheel cyl is wrong, but it looks correct.

Acts like the brake shoes do not pull back off the drum. But I dont see this when I hit the brakes with rear/wheels off the ground.
I even started the engine put trans in N the wheels will turn slow in N. Listen to the drag, sound good. Hit the brake it stops, release and it turns.
Drive in D - wheels really spin up I hear no dragging, apply brakes -all stop - release spin up OK ,

Thinking the drums are warped due to be run, smoking hot when I drove it home from the shop.. but they look and sound like they are turning true


I had the rear jacked with 2 bottle jacks and 2 safety stands.. to make sure it would not drop and create a mess.

I am taking it to a Dodge dealer on Fri to have them do an inspection.
Dont know what else to do.
I am old school -old- I have changed brake shoes on cars to big trucks. This has me stumped.
Long post but I now need some advise and help from the pros..
RR

 

I would put two new drums on. A local shop could check to see I'd they are out of round.

 

Your drums and shoes are likely now glazed from being overly tight from them adjusting the e-brake too tight.

Shoes should just barely contact drums when properly adjusted. Should feel a slight bit of drag. (yeah, I know, with a posi rear, that's fun to get right.....)

Adjusters are indeed different left to right. In order to work right, one is going to be left hand threads.

 

They actually just cranked the adjuster tight not the ebrake cable, it was loose. They just made the brake shoes come out and touch the drum too tight so the ebrake would appear to work. but the shoes were tight against the drum
I figured out to let the ebrake cable hang very loose and then try to adjust the starr wheel adjusters to get the proper slight shoe contact with the drum.

I think you are both correct// drums are warped. How about I get them turned and made true or will they still be out of round-- warped
or just get new drums $$$
can I salvage the shoes- buff off the surface glaze? or are they done also..

I could have done this myself and not screwed it up.. or not done it at all.

 

If there is some place around that will turn them for a reasonable amount of money, get it done. They will also make sure they are still within spec.

The shoes have gotten excessively hot. I would replace them........ But then, I tend to be over-cautious. It IS your brakes though.......

They say that good judgement comes from experience. Of course, experience is usually the result of poor judgement. Sometimes, you do the right thing, and still get poked. Ain't life grand?

 

Personally I'd replace the Drums (about $40 shipped on rockauto) and shoes (Auto Zone has unlimited lifetime replacements for about $25)

 

OK gang, thanks to all , I think this issue is resolved. I replaced the drums. I found a set on ebay, prostop 80088g ax80088 $128.80 pair ship free. Rockauto base price $1 less but hit for shipping and tax.
I did the adjustment one drum at a time. That is, one on one off then swap. Got the drag set to very lite., Put both drums on bolted in place, ran in N, the wheels will turn very slow. Had a noticeable slight drag sound from both but not allot.

Put on the tires/wheels and went on a test run. Did some backup / stop cycles to let the auto adjusters take up the slack.
Have an OK pedal. Made a few hard stops to seat everything and warmup the drums.

Came back home with almost no braking to let the drums cool.
Rolled to a stop, check the drums BOTH were slight warm, not hot.
The ebrake does not work, I am going to the auto adjusters do their thing for awhile before I take up the ebrake cable.

I think it is good to go.
I did not replace the brake shoes,, I cleaned them up with high grit floor sander belt, just the belt not the sander. Removed the top surface and the shine, Went over the linings with a med grit HD paper. They look OK no cracks or busted edges. If I think the shoes are not working good enough I will replace them. But I think they are good to go

Thanks again for the support
RR

 

Glad you got it fixed! Prices got way higher since last year when I ordered a drum lol

 

Adjusters do their thing when you back up and brake. Doing a couple hard stops in reverse will get their attention, and should also give you better pedal. You might get lucky with the shoes, I am just more paranoid.

 

Me again, well I may have spoke to soon. The right drum still gets very hot. I tried to not use the brakes much and roll to a stop. Really hot, cannot put finger on drum.
Left is hot but can touch it without a burn.

So, something is dragging on the right . Ebrake is loose not pulling the cable.
Maybe the return spring is not working? I can pull the drum -easy not held by the shoes.

Can the auto adjuster get too tight? But then it does not appear to be too tight as in no contact with the drum.
I was thinking I would remove the auto adjust lever , set the adjuster manually and see what that does.

The other option is to get a new set of shoes and spring kit and replace the whole mess. I dont see how the shoes are the cause...unless they are out of round somehow.

I really hate the idea of taking this to a Dodge shop .. and pay big $$ to tell me what I should know.

It stops fine, I do not smell any brake burning. I get under the rear and no burnt smell. For it getting this hot you expect a smell of burnt lining?

When I got this back from the shop with the locked shoes -as posted in OP- I could not get it working , that is running cool.
During the trouble shoot phase, while applying high pressure to the brake pedal the front rusted brake line broke ( better at home then on the road) I had already replaced the line to the rear along with the frame to axle hose. Did that last year.

I replaced both the front line, bled air went on test drive all was well with the front.

Decided to replace the rear lines since I expected them to fail also. bled air from the cyl and test run felt Ok except for the hot drum issue.
Since I was removing the drums for the xx time, I decided to replace the wheel cyl with the Chev over sized cyl . The right OEM cyl appeared it might be leaky , so replacing both cyl sounded like a good idea.

After all this rebuild and now the drums replaced, I still have the same problem.

Since I lost all the fluid from the master cyl, the brake light came on, remained on after a refill, During the assorted test runs the ABS light came on, I was able to get it to turn off with a few hard stops to trigger the ABS. Seemed OK. All lights off

What I did NOT do is take the truck to a dealer to cycle the ABS system and do a power bleed. Could the ABS system be blocking the return of fluid from the rear cylinders? It appears the rear shoes do not retract after braking for a period of time and thus the shoe drags. However I cannot see this occurring when it jacked up off the ground, Apply the brakes, wheel stop let off brake wheel turn with no noticeable drag.

Crap this is a long post -apologize for the long rant. Hope I did NOT bore you all. At a loss here.( edit correction)
RR