I put my rear brakes back together today.

[pritch]

I finally got all my brake parts so today was the day. I used my original drums, the guy that turned them said that they had never been turned before that he could tell. I also rebuilt my wheel cylinders. I bought all my parts at CarQuest, I like the people there and it's usually all made-in-America stuff. I got a spring kit, shoes, a couple of springs that don't come with the spring kit and I told the guy that I was kinda on the fence about just getting new wheel cyls or rebuilding and he said that they don't even carry new cylinders, just the rebuild kits. Since these are maybe the most common cyls on the planet, I figured there must not be any availible that was up to their standards, so rebuild it was. It's no big deal, I've done a hundred of them and they are always fine.



It's a lot easier to turn the boots inside-out then roll them on like a--well, you know.



11 dollars for two kits, a couple hours labor, and good as new:



I've done many brake jobs, but never with all new springs-I was surprised at the difference in how much stronger-harder-to get them on. All my parts were so rusty and stuff I decided to sandblast and paint them. I know paint ain't the best thing, but if I did everything right there won't be any leaks, so I guess it'll be OK.





With any luck at all, I won't have to see these again for a good long time.