my driver's side rear brake has been making some noises ever since i did a little tire smoking brake stand

so tonight i went to pull the drum off to see what needs fixing. i brought my 2nd gen Haynes manual along because i figured rear drums are rear drums on the Dana 70. well, apparently i need to take the entire hub assembly off to get the brake drum to come off...the manual for the 2nd gens never showed this as a problem.

seems like a pain in the butt, or am i just missing something extremely obvious...wouldnt be the first time.

what i did: took the wheel off (duh), and hub assembly flange was right there with the drum behind it. would have taken the axle out and removed the hub but didnt have the appropriate sized socket.

any input? i wish the 1st Haynes manual covered the diesel


Pat

 

I could never figure out why they made them like that.seems most early full floaters are like this. My 93, yes the axles had to come out to get the drums off, PITA, The 95 I have now does not.

 

1 take weel off
2 take axle off and gasket
3 small lock for big nut off
4 2 9/16 nut off
5 bearing
6loosen brake to max
7 drum off

8 if you need to change drums take studs off with center punch
9 seperate drum from center piece "i did it with pry bar and hammer"
10 check for leaky seel

11 change brake and have fun

before you order brakes find out wat you got there are 3 kinds mine was 12x3 i got same thig as 1 ton truck so make sure either take it apart before or possibilities are 12x3 12x2.5 and other i think is 11x something HINT i got the biggest axle 4500 front lbs other ones is ithink 3500 good luck

 

All the diesels have the 4500lbs front axle, and they all have the 12in drums, the drums are the same between the 1ton and the 3/4 ton, the difference was that they put the 2.5" wide pads on the 3/4 ton. So if you get new drums get the 3" wide pads, or have the drums turned so you can use the 3" wide pads. Also, I would go ahead and get the chevy 1ton wheel cylinders and put in there. I have not personnally done this however once I need brakes I am going to. Supposed to make it stop way better.

Aaron

 

Hey apache, this is off topic but did you see the truck on page 114 of the trade express? IT's a 1997 4x4 diesel 5 speed brand new flat bed extended cab new tires and power mods. Looks nice. Guy was asking $9500 and just dropped his price to $8350 Of course trucks like this only come by when I don't have the money. lol

 

It's definitely the first one.

 

update:

i tore into the driver's side brake today and found this (going to do my best to explain):
my adjuster was spanning the brakes shoes correctly, resting on the "toothed" adjuster wheel is a lever that allows the adjuster wheel to spin one direction but not the other, and attached to this lever is a funny looking spring mechanism and cable, and the cable runs towards the rear and center (3 o'clock position) of the brake around a half-moon and then anchors towards the top and center (12 o'clock). this cable was not connected to the adjuster wheel lever and was bouncing all around inside the brake, hence the funny noise.

fixed it.

first 100 yards it worked, then all of a sudden the noise was back

does it sound like i assembled it back together correctly?

who makes the best disc brake conversion kit? i have never liked drums, they make me swear and i just dont like them!


Pat

 

Everybody who's gone to discs has posted that they wish they hadn't. Most complain that they can't get a solid pedal.

Get a hardware kit, it will come with the cable assembly, self adjuster wheel, lever, spring, etc. It costs around $10. I put all new stuff in mine on Monday (except drums). The total bill was like $120, but then I took back one wheel cylinder and the old shoes so it ended up being around $80. They are such a PITA to get into that I figured the best thing to do was to buy everything I could possibly need then return what I didn't use.

 

my truck had similar thing that cable if i understand you is the cable that adjust the brakes wen you back up i removed it completly on mine il just have to manualy adjust them with a screwdriver in that small window once in a while

 

That small cable that you described is for the (non)self-adjusters. Both of mine were unhooked and chewed up when I pulled my brakes last month. I went ahead and wasted $10 for new ones (since the self-adjusters don't self-adjust anyway).

 

thanks everyone!