Has anyone had the lining of a brake shoe separate? I was driving my '54 F100 and heard a honking brake sound at the stop sign. Drove it a little ways and it felt like there was a binding/dragging on the pass front side. Parked it and took a look today. The lining on the pass front has separated from the metal shoe. There is still plenty of thickness in it and they are only about 20k miles old. Front wheel bearing spins freely and has no slop, so I don't think there was any over heating from there. No leaky cylinders, grease, fluid or anything odd in there. Drums are totally smooth. Aside from the broken shoe, everything looks OK from a quick inspection. I did not do the last brake job on this truck. So, could this just be cheap parts, or should I be looking for some other cause. Thanks in advance, Conor
I've seen it happen a couple of times but there was always evidence of excessive heat. If you don't see any other damage I'd say the bonding must have been defective.
I have had two different times when the brake pad or shoe material has separated from the backing, either due to rivet or adhesive failure. You may be able to get them replaced under warrantee, check with the part store where you got them, it never hurts to ask.
Thanks for the replies. It is reassuring to know that they can just fail. And, I can't try to return them because I actually had the brakes done at a friend's shop just before they went under. I have no real idea which parts store they came from. Looks like it's time for a brake job with some quality parts. Conor
I have a set of front brake shoes for 57 chevy still in the box, three of them fell apart in the box.
My Dad had a garage back in the 50's, I remember when bonded linings first came out Dad was leery of using "Glued" lining, as he called them. The first set that we put on was on a customer's 55 Chevy. The lady called from her home about an hour after she took delivery of her car. She indicated that on the way home, she had made a sudden stop and afterwards she had poor/no brakes. Dad grabbed a tool box and we were in the truck heading across town to check out the problem. When we started pulling drums, right in the lady's drive, we found that at least one shoe on every wheel had shed it's lining. Adhesive failure. We went to a nearby parts house and bought new 'Riveted' shoes and replaced all shoes right there in her driveway. The parts house did make the lining good but we were out the extra labor and mileage. Needless to say, it was quite awhile before we ever tried Bonded Lining again.
Buy the riveted shoes,the shoes that have the adhesive on them arn"t the same quality,saw a set of shoes in a bunch of parts for sale at the swapmeet Sunday,when the guy pulled one out of the box the lining fell off,don"t know how old they were.
Lot of guys overlook the "bedding in procedure" when installing brake shoes and disc pads. The compounds we use today are only semi cured when supplied new and depend on being bedded in correctly to help finish the curing process of the material. Correct procedure is to fit them up , adjust correctly and then run the vehicle down (preferably a quiet stretch of road) at approx 40-50mph and then with medium pressure on the brake pedal (don't stab at it!) slow the car to approx 10-15mph, then back up to 40-50mph and repeat .... do this 6 to 8 times or until you can smell the linings .This procedure warms the lining up gently and FINISHES the curing process. be warned tho, if you get them too hot too quickly it can destroy the bonding agents and will also bring all the resins to the surface and glaze the linings. It is also very important to avoid parking any vehicle when the brakes are really hot (after winding a mountain range or towing a heavy load etc) Drive the vehicle quietly for 10-15 minutes to let plenty of air around the brakes then park it . Particularly with a disc brake , if you park it when the brakes are stinking hot you can finish up with warped brake rotors (discs) as all the heat will concentrate in the Caliper area over the rotor. .
Right on the money!! I have taken brake shoes to a brake rebuilder and have had metallic linings installed also turn the drums and arc the shoes to the drums... Will stop like a disc brake car.
I've seen linings separate from the shoes on the rear of an 80's Chrysler, not abused and no other explanation but lousy quality shoes. Same thing on my daughter's disc pads. No corrosion, almost new, top of the line, put them on myself, one lining just disappeared, obvious bonding failure. No warrantee since I installed them myself - you Canadians can guess what large retailer they came from! Shame on me I know but it was a Sunday and all the good guys were closed. Live and learn.
On my 66 GMC when I was driving home from work one night I had some jack ass run a red light and almost take me out. I left four rubber marks and when I would drive sometimes the brakes would be weird. I drove it like that for two days and when I had the time I pulled the drums off on both the front and and the front pads on both sides feel off but still inside the drum.
LOL! Backing up 40 to 50 MPH sounds dangerous (I know what you meant). Besides that, your "bedding in procedure" (untill your brakes stink?) is the silliest thing I've ever heard of. If brake manufacturers are knowingly sending out shoes and pads with "semi cured" adhesives they won't be in business very much longer. When that inner city Midas guy wrecks a car because he had to stop fast on his way out of town to perfom a "bedding in procedure" there's going to be hell to pay.
I worked for Chevrolet and THAT is the proper procedure when installing brakes. Lewislynn you are wrong on this one
This will date me, but oh well. I used to use "Velvatouch" brake shoes and the proceedure that was dictated to me was that one should drive with the brakes applied with moderate pressure and subsequently get them hot. Once hot then park the vehicle, but not put on the e-brake and if it was a standard transmission, block the wheels and let the brakes cool off to cold. Once they were cold, one was to adjust the shoes once more. Each time I used those shoes (bonded) I would put my nose on my windshield as they stopped like power brakes. Now I will tell you that that product was the only one that was to be broken in like that. I would have never done that with any other type/brand of brake shoes (didn't have disc brakes then). Velvatouch also sold clutch discs but I never had a motor that needed that type of material as my motors were pretty mild as I couldn't afford a "hot motor". Perhaps there's another antique out there that remembers this product line.
I forgot to mention that when doing a brake job with Velvatouch shoes that one was to make sure that the drums were cleaned up and had a new surface to work with.
Good on ya mate ..... ( could you hear the sarcasm in my voice ?) . If you read my post correctly I did not tell anyone to go at it "until your brakes stink" as you put it , The instructions were to repeat the procedure 6 or 8 times OR until you can smell your brakes . NEW shoes will make a smell earlier then well worn (fully cured) shoes and if you can smell them before the suggested 6 or 8 applications that tells you they are up to temperature and don't need overcooking . But hey what would I know , you'd think after 20 years in the Automotive brake and clutch industry I'd have learnt something? .
Check this out The text of this article is taken from Baer Brakes' website How to properly bed your new brake pads - Taurus Car Club Maintenance and Modification Wiki
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