rear brake drums
 

first, are there any asbestoes (spelling?) in there? And what are things that I should be looking for that tell me if my rear drums are good or not, all I got left to do on my truck is install a front left signal light lense, and check the brakes, then I can take her for my insurance inspection. Unfortunatly, my father isn't in town, so I can't get him to check my brakes with me...

The drum pads are made of the same stuff as the disc pads, so my guess would be yes. I changed the pads out on mine about 3 years ago and they were very heavily gunked.

Any ideas what I should be looking for as indicators? I have a gas mask that I can use while working on the truck's drums, so the asbestoes shouldn't be too big of an issue if I blow my coveralls down with the compressor and wash them as soon as I am done with em, but I still dunno what I should be looking at upon removing the drum :S

Well obviously you'll look at the shoe linings and drums for wear. Also, pay attention to the these:
1. Retaining and releasing springs that hold the shoes to the mounting plate (dust shield)
2. Brake cylinder leakage and rubber seal condition
3. Automatic adjuster pin condition (don't know a fancier word for it, trunnion??). It's the part that sits between the lower edges of the brake shoes, keeping them at a correct distance. It looks like a threaded bolt with a slotted wheel in it. The front end cap of the pin (which is slotted to secure the front brake shoe) acts as a bearing, allowing the slotted wheel to be turned by a lever when the parking brake is applied. If the pin can't turn, there won't be any compensation for brake lining wear, which can cause, amongst other things, uneven braking and shoe lining wear. Also, your pedal will go deeper before any braking will occur if the adjustment isn't right.



I don't think there is any asbestos in the linings if the shoes or linings have been changed within the last few years. AFAIK, the producing of asbestos brake pads/shoes isn't permitted anymore due to the hazardous properties of the dust. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't use a mask when doing work since there are other materials used that can be equally dangerous.
Sorry for the long post :)
-Axle

I wish I knew they had asbestos in them when my friend did his brakes on his Grand Am. He was claping them together like chalk board erasers. We probably took a couple years off our lives that day.

Tip: use heavy amounts of brake cleaner for brake dust removal. If you start to hellucinate, take a break, then hit'em again.

What does the dust do to you? I hope not much because I have been around alot lately looking for an axle with the realy wide brake shoes.

I'm not real sure on this, but I doubt very seriously they still use asbestos in anything. With all the hoopla about this for the last, how many years, decades??, the government outlawed the production of products with asbestos in it.

I don't know what is in them though. Some are metallic or semi metallic, others are organic (what the hell ever that means). I'm guessing they have a lot of carbon in them by the way they do your wheels. Asbestos never done this.

Still, I wouldn't breath it. No dust is good for the lungs. :) Pull the drum and wash the heck out of them with some spray on brake cleaner. It dries real quick and leaves no residue.

Alright, when I take them apart I will wash em' down a bunch, I put it together to test my master cylinder today.

I thought we were talking about brakes?? :metal:

Your not supposed to HUFF the brake cleaner, LOL.... If breathing a little brake dust was taking time off my life, I'd probably be dead already....Seriously, make sure you get a diagram or a manual or something before you start to take them apart, brakes aren't something you can GUESS at.....

The organic ones SUCK!! You really can tell a difference between them and a semi metalic pad or shoe. They look like they are made out of cardboard and limerock pressed together. They feel like a chalk board.

But organic pads don't really wear the rotor and tend not to squeal. Semi & full metalic wear down the rotor and make more noise. Ballence! (sp?)

organic pads don't last very long compared to semi-metallic pads...

I've said it before, I'll say it again....If the system was designed to have semi-metallic pads, that's what you should replace them with. Proper brake jobs include turning the rotors and drums, not just slapping new pads on.....Most of you are willing to spend $1000-$2000-$3000-$4000 on building that hot rod motor, what's a few extra bucks for brakes????:confused:

Exactly!! That is SOOOO true!! The brake system is one of the most important parts of the truck!!