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I have several long distance friends that have been helpful with my first drum brake job, but this thing should have taken minutes instead of hours -- and I am still not done.
The reason I am doing this myself is that I am pretty cash poor now and figure that I should know how to do this anyway. Most experienced folks say this is not too bad a deal if you have done it a few times. They also warned that you ought to have someone show you the first time. That's why I need a local rexer. I can do this stuff but I would avoid all kinds of nonsense if I had help the first time.
Problem: Right rear drum locked up. I took the cover off the ebrake and the cable isn't slacked. So who knows? Helms manual offers no help.
So here are the screwups to date on this brake drum project:
1) Looking at the manual, I figure I am supposed to remove the dust cap and that big ass nut. After screwing with it for hours and only getting one side off, I called a buddy 180 miles away. "Why are you taking that nut off?" Thankfully he didn't laugh too hard. I clean the wound on my left palm that happened when I jammed a screwdriver into it trying to get the dust cover off. I can't get the brake dust, grease, and dirt out of it. Yeah, I didn't wear gloves.
2) Heeding the warning off others to do one side at a time so that you have a reference, I take off the left side drum with not too much beating. Right side is frozen and since I have to wait until my wife goes home so I can buy bolts to pull it off with, I decide to change the shoes on the left side. Did I bother to check them for wear first? Nope. Did I forget that I had a brake job three years ago before I wrecked the car and it sat for a year? Nope. So a couple of hours later all the parts are on the ground and when I pull out the new shoes, I notice that the old shoes have about as much pad left. Not only that but now a tension pin is now missing. :x
3) I take the drum to the auto parts store to find out which bolt size I need. Autozone dip uses a bunch of bolts and tells me 7mm X 1.0. I spend the next couple of hours trying to find a 7mm bolt that is long enough. No luck. I get suspicious and search HT. Sheeit, it is a 8mm X 1.5!
4) I can only find an 8mm bolt that is 45mm long. I bring it home, compare it to the drum depth. It looks like i isn't deep enough. Do I try it to see if it is? Nope. Do I look at the hub to notice that the bolt would push on the part that sits INSIDE the drum and not the acking plate? Nope. So after another round of hitting some of the more specialty hardware stores, I find a 90mm long bolt. Then when i try it I find that 45mm would have probably done the job.
I clean up the frozen side as much as possible without taking everything off. I tighten up the self-adjusting screw as much as possible. Looks like that may fix it. Who knows? When it self adjusts, it may just lock the sucka back up.
I quit at this point as I a cannot find the tension pin and have screwed up the U-clip. I am going to need to buy a hardware kit. Then I get to figure out how this jig saw goes back together WHILE trying to install it. One spring off and it all falls apart.
I really need a CRX buddy locally to show this crap to me. I guess I am getting an expensive and painful education, though.
The reason I am doing this myself is that I am pretty cash poor now and figure that I should know how to do this anyway. Most experienced folks say this is not too bad a deal if you have done it a few times. They also warned that you ought to have someone show you the first time. That's why I need a local rexer. I can do this stuff but I would avoid all kinds of nonsense if I had help the first time.
Problem: Right rear drum locked up. I took the cover off the ebrake and the cable isn't slacked. So who knows? Helms manual offers no help.
So here are the screwups to date on this brake drum project:
1) Looking at the manual, I figure I am supposed to remove the dust cap and that big ass nut. After screwing with it for hours and only getting one side off, I called a buddy 180 miles away. "Why are you taking that nut off?" Thankfully he didn't laugh too hard. I clean the wound on my left palm that happened when I jammed a screwdriver into it trying to get the dust cover off. I can't get the brake dust, grease, and dirt out of it. Yeah, I didn't wear gloves.
2) Heeding the warning off others to do one side at a time so that you have a reference, I take off the left side drum with not too much beating. Right side is frozen and since I have to wait until my wife goes home so I can buy bolts to pull it off with, I decide to change the shoes on the left side. Did I bother to check them for wear first? Nope. Did I forget that I had a brake job three years ago before I wrecked the car and it sat for a year? Nope. So a couple of hours later all the parts are on the ground and when I pull out the new shoes, I notice that the old shoes have about as much pad left. Not only that but now a tension pin is now missing. :x
3) I take the drum to the auto parts store to find out which bolt size I need. Autozone dip uses a bunch of bolts and tells me 7mm X 1.0. I spend the next couple of hours trying to find a 7mm bolt that is long enough. No luck. I get suspicious and search HT. Sheeit, it is a 8mm X 1.5!
4) I can only find an 8mm bolt that is 45mm long. I bring it home, compare it to the drum depth. It looks like i isn't deep enough. Do I try it to see if it is? Nope. Do I look at the hub to notice that the bolt would push on the part that sits INSIDE the drum and not the acking plate? Nope. So after another round of hitting some of the more specialty hardware stores, I find a 90mm long bolt. Then when i try it I find that 45mm would have probably done the job.
I clean up the frozen side as much as possible without taking everything off. I tighten up the self-adjusting screw as much as possible. Looks like that may fix it. Who knows? When it self adjusts, it may just lock the sucka back up.
I quit at this point as I a cannot find the tension pin and have screwed up the U-clip. I am going to need to buy a hardware kit. Then I get to figure out how this jig saw goes back together WHILE trying to install it. One spring off and it all falls apart.
I really need a CRX buddy locally to show this crap to me. I guess I am getting an expensive and painful education, though.
