Rear drum brake shoes

[gilly]

I have a 2000 Dodge 3500 PleasureWay with Drum Brakes on the back. My mechanic is saying the shoes need to be replaced. The shoes were last replaced 30k miles ago back in 2017. Shouldn't I get more miles out of them? Our GVW is over 10k pounds. thanks

[mkguitar]

brake shoes are cheap, replace with the best they have-


likely a good idea the turn the drums ( machine out any worn in grooves)-



hey while he's there have your wheel bearings replaced. then you won;t have to worry about it.



it is possible that the shoes you have are 'organic" which tend to wear quicker, the reason some people use these is because they tend to be quieter and won't squeal.

[gilly]

Nothing is cheap in California. He does want to turn the drum as it has a little warp. Cost $750. I'll ask about the wheel bearings. Thanks.

[phantomjock]

Seems like a lot to, "to turn the drum."
I had to check the replace vs repair cost.
Seems that new drums and shoes could be had for under $500. Then all parts are new. And, it might save some work? Just sayin'

Cheers - Jim

BTW - I bet the Bearings won't be as cheap!

[booster]

I tend to have a different view than many mechanics and users when deciding what to do with rotors and brake drums at brake pad/show time comes along.


Unless you live in the rust belt and they are very rusty, I normally will not be too concerned about minor grooving, especially on drums in the rear. Runout is a concern for sure, and on rotors much more so than on drums. If they aren't badly grooved, I clean them up a bit, and make sure the rotor to wheel hub mounting surface of the rotor and hub are totally clean, burr free, and with no rust or other bumps on them. I have found that well over half of the rotors that showed excessive runout before removing were fine after the cleanup. The problem is usually that people or shops remove a wheel for some reason and the rotor comes loose on the studs (yes some have two screws that hold them in place which prevents problems, but on older cars they are either missing or the car never had them) and rust or dirt fell between the rotor and hub surfaces and caused runout.


If a rotor checks within spec for runout and has minor grooving I will just sand the surface to give a clean break in surface for the new pads and use them. Turning a rotor that doesn't really need it may make it worse after a small amount of use because the turning lowers it's thermal mass and also relieves the surface stress in the metal surface and that can make it prone to warping when it gets hot again. I have also, like many of us, found that the currently available new rotors can be very, very bad right out of the box and need turning to be usable. You have to a least mid, but often higher cost rotors to get good material and runout in them. I ran the original drums through 5 front pad replacements, 170K miles, on my 92 Escort. I only replaced them because we are in salt country and they started to get so rusty they were in danger of having holes though them. They still ran true and had never been turned.



Drums are a bit harder to check runout unless you remove the backing plate but on the rear doing a spin test to see if they hit hard enough to stop you from turning them easily through minor rubs is normally OK and even new, high quality drums, if you can find some, will often give a bit of rub. Again, clean mounting surfaces and a good fit at the hub center are essential to get good runout.


One old school thing that is still done is to index the drum or rotor on the studs to find the lowest runout point. It does work, but you have to be sure to mark the rotor or drum and the stud so you always get them back on correctly in the future.

[gilly]

Thanks for all the reply's. Since I don’t know how to do the work myself I have to rely more Ñ my mechanic that says the rotors are warped from heat and either need turning or replacement. Wish I would have waited until we were on the road in another state to get them done cheaper. Mechanics around here are now $175/hour but this mechanic has been working on my rig for 13 years so I trust him.
We ride mountain roads and dirt roads often and even though I shift down to 2nd gear we still have to use the brakes. Maybe I’m too heavy footed.

[N147JK]

These vans are easy to work on. Get some tools, do some reading.. you will learn a lot and save a ton of money.

[ballbraindogs]

Another thing to consider when driving down mountain roads instead of downshifting is to turn the Overdrive OFF. It will say "O/D Off" on the dashboard. That way the engine will do the braking.

Nancy
2000 PW Excel TD

[booster]

Originally Posted by ballbraindogs

Another thing to consider when driving down mountain roads instead of downshifting is to turn the Overdrive OFF. It will say "O/D Off" on the dashboard. That way the engine will do the braking.

Nancy
2000 PW Excel TD

As I understand it, at least on most transmissions, is that turning off OD just eliminates the trans using the top gear. That, until recently, would be 4th gear. So basically is a downshift without moving the shifter.

[ballbraindogs]

Yup! That's right. Works great.

[gilly]

Originally Posted by ballbraindogs

Another thing to consider when driving down mountain roads instead of downshifting is to turn the Overdrive OFF. It will say "O/D Off" on the dashboard. That way the engine will do the braking.

Nancy
2000 PW Excel TD

Thanks Nancy, I do turn off the O/D but will try doing that more often.