Could my rear drum brakes be the culprit?

[littlejuanito]

About a month ago, I was feeling a vibration whenever braking, especially at high speeds. I thought the front rotors were warped so I decided to purchase new pads and discs.

It struck me as odd that the rotors seemed fine and not scored, and the pads were practically new. I went ahead and changed them anyways. The vibration sorta stopped but it was still slightly noticeable, although I didn't feel it coming straight from the front anymore.

Could the slight vibration be caused by my rear brakes? I know for a fact that they haven't been changed in over 100k miles, and well over 4 years now, so that alone is reason enough to replace them. The weird thing is that about 6 months ago, when I was gonna service them, the shoes still looked like they had a lot of material left in them. I compared them with the new ones I had bought, and they looked exactly the same in terms of wear.

I ended up not doing them since I was not able to get the driver's side drum out, no matter how much I banged on it with a mallet. Damn thing would not budge. I never got to see how worn the driver's side was.

[wetamup2k3g]

What you can try is to VERY gently pull your e-brake up as you're driving, say around 30 mph or so, and see if you get the vibration. You have to be gentle, smooth and slow, don't lock your wheels and keep your other hand on the steering wheel. This will let you know if your drums have some warp to them or not. I had my 4-cyl for seven years, i never changed the drums or shoes. Hope this helps, it's the only suggestion I have to check if your rears are warped, but I am warning you, that tactic isn't the safest, but it can be done.

[RedGalant2k1]

IF the vibration is in the seat, it is in the rear brakes. If the vibration is in the steering wheel then it is your front brakes. I would mention that it may not necessarily mean that you rear brakes are out of round. It is possible that the rear drums could also be out of balance. They have weights on them like your wheels would, so check the drums you will see the weights on the exterior, or not.

[littlejuanito]

What you can try is to VERY gently pull your e-brake up as you're driving, say around 30 mph or so, and see if you get the vibration. You have to be gentle, smooth and slow, don't lock your wheels and keep your other hand on the steering wheel. This will let you know if your drums have some warp to them or not. I had my 4-cyl for seven years, i never changed the drums or shoes. Hope this helps, it's the only suggestion I have to check if your rears are warped, but I am warning you, that tactic isn't the safest, but it can be done.

Thanks, I will try this and see what happens

IF the vibration is in the seat, it is in the rear brakes. If the vibration is in the steering wheel then it is your front brakes. I would mention that it may not necessarily mean that you rear brakes are out of round. It is possible that the rear drums could also be out of balance. They have weights on them like your wheels would, so check the drums you will see the weights on the exterior, or not.

Yeah, the wheel vibrates slightly but shoot, I replaced discs and pads last week up front

[finald8ta]

Thanks, I will try this and see what happens



Yeah, the wheel vibrates slightly but shoot, I replaced discs and pads last week up front

could be ball joint, inner tie rods, Ect

[littlejuanito]

could be ball joint, inner tie rods, Ect

I'm starting to think it could be anything now... I tried the emergency brake maneuver as wetamop suggested, but I didnt feel any vibration. The steering does feel loose and I the steering wheel has a lot of play

[wetamup2k3g]

Yeah, it was a long shot, typically if you still have a lot of meat on your shoes, the rear brakes aren't doing that much braking, so they won't see a whole lot of heat and use, so they won't warp much if at all. Like the above posters said, if it's in the wheel, and you just changed the front brakes, check your front suspension components.

Although, I have had warped brakes return to my car in as little as a few weeks, I started bedding my brakes after an install, and I haven't had any warp on me since.

Basically once you replace your rotors, do a series of relatively hard stops from around 60 mph or better, but don't come to a full stop on those, come down real hard to around 5 mph and repeat, do not lock the wheels doing this.

After that, try not to have panic stops and then sit with your foot on the brakes, it makes the pad material transfer to your discs at that one spot and leave you with a high spot, which is the "warpage" you feel.

After long hard stops, try to leave enough room so you can crawl and not stop completely holding your brakes on at one spot on the discs, and if you can't crawl along, come to your stop, pull the e-brake, and get off the pedal, that'll keep your pad material from transferring.

Here's a good read on minimizing "warpage:"
http://www.stoptech.com/technical-su...nd-other-myths