- 794
- 812
- 93
- Location
- W.WA
Recently flipped the hubs in the rear with a friend, though really I was the one helping him as he's a professional car mechanic. While we were at it, we cleaned everything up, put in new grease and checked the brakes, putting in new seals, etc. On one side, the center (#2) axle, oil had soaked the shoes so we replaced these. On the other side of the same axle oil had run over maybe a strip about an inch wide, decided to go ahead and replace these as well even. The brake shoes on the #3 axle had lots of material so we left them alone. Based on how much material was on all the old shoes we left the front alone completely. It was a long day and we didn't properly adjust the brakes just doing a quick adjustment using the nut on the back of the hub.
When I drove it on the freeway, I couldn't get over 45 mph and when I got home there was a lot of smoke coming from the center axle. I figured that the brake shoes were too tight. My driveway is made up of uneven brick runners and not suitable to jack the truck up, so I figured I'd take it to a mechanic nearby (not my normal mechanic who's much further away) to check/adjust the brakes.
This mechanic had a **** of a time and without permission pulled the hubs apart on #2 and said the new shoes were the problem as they were too thick. I brought the old shoes and we measured them, the old were .488 inches thick and the new were .533. I was of the opinion that it was unlikely that such a small difference in thickness could be the problem especially on a truck that was designed so long ago. I've also read that the original stock thickness is .5 inches. During the discussion with the shop owner I began to lose faith with them and told them to stop working on it and put everything back to together. I suggested we agree to disagree and we parted ways after I only paid them for the work I told them to do.
Driving through town, on city streets doing no more than 30 mph I couldn't feel any indication (nor could I ever) that the brakes were dragging. And when I got back to my place from the local mechanic there was a little smoke (really hard to see) on only one side and the hub didn't even feel warm. The shop had said they did back the brakes off, on #2 all the way, so maybe this and the little driving (approx. 20 miles since hub flip) I did made the difference. I haven't been back on the freeway to check my top speed which should be 55-57 on the speedometer.
I an concerned about how the shop put the hubs back together and will probably check their work with my friend some time in the next month.
TLDR: Has anyone had a problem with new brake shoes dragging or smoking?
When I drove it on the freeway, I couldn't get over 45 mph and when I got home there was a lot of smoke coming from the center axle. I figured that the brake shoes were too tight. My driveway is made up of uneven brick runners and not suitable to jack the truck up, so I figured I'd take it to a mechanic nearby (not my normal mechanic who's much further away) to check/adjust the brakes.
This mechanic had a **** of a time and without permission pulled the hubs apart on #2 and said the new shoes were the problem as they were too thick. I brought the old shoes and we measured them, the old were .488 inches thick and the new were .533. I was of the opinion that it was unlikely that such a small difference in thickness could be the problem especially on a truck that was designed so long ago. I've also read that the original stock thickness is .5 inches. During the discussion with the shop owner I began to lose faith with them and told them to stop working on it and put everything back to together. I suggested we agree to disagree and we parted ways after I only paid them for the work I told them to do.
Driving through town, on city streets doing no more than 30 mph I couldn't feel any indication (nor could I ever) that the brakes were dragging. And when I got back to my place from the local mechanic there was a little smoke (really hard to see) on only one side and the hub didn't even feel warm. The shop had said they did back the brakes off, on #2 all the way, so maybe this and the little driving (approx. 20 miles since hub flip) I did made the difference. I haven't been back on the freeway to check my top speed which should be 55-57 on the speedometer.
I an concerned about how the shop put the hubs back together and will probably check their work with my friend some time in the next month.
TLDR: Has anyone had a problem with new brake shoes dragging or smoking?
Last edited:
