Guys - I have a '58 Studebaker 4-door sedan with a problem in the left (driver's) rear drum. On slow braking it instantly locks up and I have to move backward to release it. The right rear is fine & acts normal. I removed the drum to find a very small leak in my new (overseas) cylinder which I took back to the store for a refund and sourced another cylinder, which I replaced. I adjusted the star wheel (which uses a spring over to hold it in place) for a slight drag as normal and upon doing a test drive, I got the same lock-up on the driveway - same wheel. Do I need to adjust for more or less drag... or what do you think could possibly be the reason I'm having this issue. (By the way, I replaced the shoes and they're identical, meaning there isn't a specific shoe for the primary and another for the secondary.) Drum surface is fine with no gouges or lines. I've never encountered this problem before in all the cars I've owned and for which I've freshened up the brakes. Thanks for any insight!
Yep, agree with 'clean the brake shoes'. Lots of brake cleaner. And beware, some brake materials will never release all the old fluid and continue to grab until used enough to wear away the contaminated layer.
Sand the drums, wipe with alcohol. Boil the shoes in baking soda. Bake shoes in oven for 15 minutes @ 200 degrees. Verify that you don't have 2 long shoes on one side & 2 short shoes on the other ....
Verify that the opposite side is functioning correctly as well. Had an OT car where one side was grabbing more than the other, the lesser grabby side was actually goofed and not properly functioning. All the hydraulic pressure was only effectively actuating the 'grabby' side.
Good advice in posts 2,3 and 4. Back in my several brake jobs a week life some of the brakes had the same length lining but they were actually different colors and marked primary and secondary. Usually one was greenish and the other was kid of brown. They were marked primary or secondary on the side of the lining. I'd pull the other wheel and check the lining to make sure that I didn't put the primary on one side and secondary on the other unless you are positive that you have them right. I'd also compare spring installation from one side to the other. You may have a spring installed wrong or have a stretched/weak spring. One more thing, make sure that the rubbing surfaces where the side of the shoes ride on the backing plate are smooth and don't have grooves worn in them that the shoes are catching on. New shoes that haven't been relined will have sharp edges that may catch on those grooves if they are worn very deep.
Agree with Mr48chev check the opposite side. Also what model Studebaker is it 6 or 8 cylinder and maybe some pics of your set-up. Those shoes should have a primary and secondary. What other brake parts have been replaced or not. The 8 cylinders had 11 front and 10" rear. The 6 cylinders had 10" front and 9" rear.
Great stuff guys, thank you! I'm disgusted with the project and will likely pull the drums tomorrow. (Takes a puller, UGH) Just to be sure, I will check both sides. Have done lots of brake jobs over my 68 years but know there's always a first time to mess up. My car's a six with the 9" drums on a twin traction Dana 44.
What a moron...I must have been sleep walking thru my brake job. I put the primary on the back and, of course, vice versa. Have sanded & cleaned the drum and now, boiling the shoes on the kitchen stove with baking soda. Thank you 302GMC. Weird feeling doing so. Then into the oven. Good thing my wife is visiting family elsewhere. Definitely will pull the other drum and see if I messed up there, too. Duh!
Actually the proper way to do it is change the shoes, once they are contaminated you will never get them clean, no matter how much brake clean or boiling or whatever else you try. But hey, I am just an amateur... Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I've lost count of how many times I have seen the shoes reversed on one side because the guy doing the job left one side together to know where things went and then didn't flip the image in his brain when he went to the other side. Most of those brought to me on Monday after a Saturday brake job in the driveway.
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