Brakes

[Burns]

It's time to do brakes again. Now, when I did them last time, I didn't know when they were done last, so I did the whole nine yards - fronts complete and the rear got new drum pads, cylinders, springs, and of course fluid. Now that it's time again to do them, should I replace all that again, or just the pads?

 

[Seabronc]

Just the pads, most of the breaking is done on the front pads. You might want to check the adjustment of the rear brakes. Rear shoes normally outlive several sets of pads. You might want to check them just to give yourself a warm fuzzy feeling on the inside /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> .

Good luck,

>-

 

[Shadow_D]

Well that depends.

How bad are the rotors? Do the caliper still work correctly? How are the drums?

This is all going to need to be checked when you dive in.

1st look at how the pads are warn. If they are even and don't show any signs of dragging and there isn't a pulsing in the peddle when you hit the brakes then you can most likely just replace the pads.

2nd look at the shoes, are they even? look at the drums for scoring. If all seems normal then just replace the shoes. If they look like they have lots of life left then leave them alone. The springs are most likely going to be ok, some rust is ok but if they look like they are rotted then replace them.

 

[Shadow_D]

Damn you beat me Fred :lol:

 

[Broncobill78]

Well now that the Mods have had their say I'll jump on in and 2nd their motion. Your fronts typically do 70% of your braking so as a general rule you'll do the fronts every time & the rears every other time. If the rotors look/feel good (no pulsing will be the primary thing you look for) then they're probably still good. Me, personally, I genarally do a complete brake job (front & back) when I first buy a truck and then the next time around I just replace front pads and then the NEXT time after that I replace all 4 pads, have the rotors turned & the drums resurfaced. That's worked well enuf for me since I was 16 (now my oldest is getting ready to drive & my youngest is replacing transmissions with me. Life is good) and I see no need to change the routine.

 

[Burns]

Yea, I didn't think I needed to do all the extras again on the rear just yet. They work just fine, I just noticed the warning squeel that means I need new front brakes, and I'd rather be safe than sorry and ask people who know more than me. ^_^ /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Thaks guys.

 

[Shadow_D]

No prob, it is better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Broncobill78]

Sure, but just don't drag your feet. That squeel is the rivet heads on the pad contacting the rotor. Let it go for very long and you not only groove the rotor but you'll heat it & warp it causing it to pulse and THEN you're looking at not just a set of pads but needing to have the rotors turned as well. Get on it before that happens and you can keep the schedule of only needing to turn the rotors every *other* brake job plus by not grooving them you save material and won't need to replace then as often since they aren't being turned as often.