was checking out my rear drums today on my 93 civic coupe, i had i jacked up finding a water leak and started messing with the drums. when i went to spin them with my hand they would spin a little and then bind up and become harder to turn and then spin freely again. would it be a good idea to take it apart and clean them up and see if they spin freely? there is a bit of rust builup around the two sections of the hub. any info would help opinions are welcome, thanks guys

 

anyone

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by classciv &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">was checking out my rear drums today on my 93 civic coupe, i had i jacked up finding a water leak and started messing with the drums. when i went to spin them with my hand they would spin a little and then bind up and become harder to turn and then spin freely again. would it be a good idea to take it apart and clean them up and see if they spin freely? there is a bit of rust builup around the two sections of the hub. any info would help opinions are welcome, thanks guys</TD></TR></TABLE>

that is a sign that they are wearing unevenly, which pretty much every drum brake does. there is supposed to be a small continuous drag. i would recommend a clean and adjust and if they are all worn out, replace the shoes and cut or replace the drums

 

that is normal for them to bind up but not completely lock up the brakes. that's the shoes binding with the drum

 

so pretty much what you are saying is that it is most likly that it is just my brake shoes that are shot and not the entire drum assembly

 

You won't know until you remove the drum. Bang that sucker with a mini-sledge hammer evenly all way around. Spray penetrant onto the lugs before removal to loosen up the drum a bit. You probably have brake dust that's collected at the bottom. Be sure to use brake cleaner to spray out all that asbestos material (brake dust). I'd recommend an N-90 mask from Home Depot while removing the drum. Mine don't bind anymore. Good luck.

 

It never hurts to take anyting apart as long as you know how to put it back together.

And breathing brake dust is bad, ok?

Brake cleaner isn't too good for your skin either. Mask and gloves

 

thanks for all the info guys

 

The prob with adjusting drums so there's no drag at all is that you loose some initial pedal response (kinda like unbled brakes). As I've only worked on older (60's/70's) drums, I can't say for sure that you can adjust them much, since they seem to be self-adjusting. Also, the amount that they drag is really nothing, it can freely spin them at idle. If you have the time and a very good idea what to do, try it. Brakes tend to be the last safety measure I mess with...