Does 1995 Fleetwood Brougham come with 11" x 2" rear brakes? My rear brakes are dragging. I plan to replace wheel cylinders, assuming a sticky piston is the culprit. The hardware looked good (adjuster, etc. no rust).
Done it several times per manual and many videos on youtube. Still something is wrong. I was driving for a very limited time VERY carefully locally with the rear brakes disabled. That's how I knew they were dragging. Felt immediate increase in power and fuel economy.
What if I roll back the adjusters to allow way more gap between the shoes and drums and let them self adjust? Will it work? I can do that through access openings, without taking off the wheels.
I did notice the plungers did not extend equally out of wheel cylinders when the drums were off, but assumed things get aligned properly when the drums are on and the brakes are applied. Maybe another bad assumption.
For as cheap as they are, I'd be trying to make any excuse possible to replace ALL the hardware; springs, retractor arm and bushing, pins, retainers.... Not only are they wear items, but fresh is also the best way to stack the deck in the favor of the other parts working properly (cylinders, adjusters...) I got two complete kits when I did all-new drums-shoes-cylinders at 53,XXX.
BTW I've never experienced reliable functioning auto-adjusters on any drum car I ever owned. Maybe a few times the old "slam on the brakes at 30 in reverse worked, but most reliable is in the air with manual friction fit.
Last thing: I cleaned and lubed those adjusters - they were sticky and all bound up.
The wheel cylinders were replaced some eight years ago and the hardware just a couple of years ago. Everything looks clean. i do not like the concept of drum brakes at all. I do not think they are much lighter than disc brakes. Of course I can use new hardware, but am sure that's not the problem.
Forgot to add that the shoes are pretty new too. Glazing would affect braking, but would it contribute into dragging?
Unfortunately, cannot invest more in this car.
I can appreciate a non-infinite budget. Did you do the new cylinders yet though? It's getting to sound like that's the only thing not touched in the last few years. Once those are in you can do a full bleed and errthing should be straight. IDK if ABS cars automatically self-correct for a shifted proportioning valve, but you might do some search just to eliminate that as a cause of your symptoms.
HUF, the parking brake. Just thought of it. Backing out of the garage my wife's Tribute was dragging a bit, and happened to look down and saw that my SIL had pulled the handle when borrowing it. (he drives a stick). Check yours out for anything out of the ordinary.
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