just backing out of the garage today I could tell something was stuck. driver side rear was so stuck I could remove the lug nuts with the tires in the air (neutral). Rubber mallet used to get the hub off. the adjuster has only out about 3/16 thread showing, I turned it in and all was fine. BUT there was a large amount of brake dust, and it was oily at that . Mostly around the top of the hub which I found odd since there is no oil source up there (cylinder is on the bottom of my 75). I check and the E brake cable seemed ok but really need someone to operate it while I watch I suppose. Will get spouse on the job for that, she was not around at the time.

anyway the oiliness bothered me. I also noticed my strut had oil on it. IIRC that one had a slightly pitted piston on the damper section, guess its time to install the non pressurized carts I got just for this.

But I don't see how any of that oil could have worked its way into the brake drum, so I have to assume it leaking brake fluid. I can by a new cylinder for about 60$, or I suppose I can pull the old one and see if it just needs a rebuild. I will need to pull it either way (replace/rebuild), so may as well take a look. The springs were all in place so I can't think of anything else to do that could account for both the oily residue AND the stuck over extended shoe.

hmmm could a defective rubber brake hose be an issue, somehow not allowing brake fluid to drain back? They should be replaced as I am pretty sure they are orig to the car.

 

Edited August 2, 20195 yr by Dave WM

19 minutes ago, Dave WM said:

hmmm could a defective rubber brake hose be an issue, somehow not allowing brake fluid to drain back?

Absolutely possible. Sometimes the interior lining deteriorates and acts like a check valve. Sometimes a steel mount will rust and effectively expand inward constricting the hose.

Not saying that's what happened to yours, but it does happen. Although I actually consider it more likely that the questionable floating cylinder design was getting stuck on the backing plate.

Will replace hoses, past due anyway, looks like will be messing with brakes this weekend.

My back driver side brake kept getting stuck.. I switched to rear disk brakes because I don’t understand that drum brake black magic that’s going on inside there all hidden from view


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well got the drive side brakes done. the OE cylinder had some rusty looking carp in it, local autozone had both a right and left, got them both, some new shoes and hoses.

impressions on the china made cylinder, I guess the hydraulic parts will be ok but the auto adjuster did not work right out of the box, I had to bend it to make it engage the ratchet, and even then it was iffy. I reused the OE ratchet, would have reused the adj lever but after the 3rd time of installing it (don't ask) I just did not want to mess with it anymore. I seems to be working now (at lest the auto adj part and the E brake.

while I was at it I put in the NOS non pressurized cartridge. I had forgotten what a pain it was to pull the strut, but the real fun began when I could  not get the rod to stay out of the cart long enough for me to get the spring back in place and the insulator bolted on.

The solution was to use the spindle pin, I had tapped it out already to make the strut easier to handle (off the car method). After installing the new cart, adding a little bit of oil to prevent future rust, and using the BFAW (24") to tighten the nut I partially threaded on a nut, then threaded the spindle pin on top of that. The extra length of the spindle pin let me set up the spring/cap and then grab the spindle pin and draw out the cart rod. once it was out I had enough time to get the insulator on and spin the nut on with a impact driver. I suspect the gas charged struts were inpart developed just to avoid this major hassle.

anyway the driver side is almost done, did not want to wake her up while pounding the spindle pin back in place (I use an old one to get it all aligned, the insert the keeper by driving it in while knocking the alignment pin out.  Will finish up that tomorrow. On the fence about messing with the other cylinder, no leaks, works fine, better OE quality as long as its not rusted. But I do want to do the pass rear strut cart (its still the OE stuff in there, and while its not leaking, I think it would make sense to at least have a matching suspension parts on L and R sides.

For that  one I think I will leave the spindle pin in place and tilt out the strut for replacement. will think about it... not sure if it will make the spring compressing etc. to much of a hassle.

 

31 minutes ago, Dave WM said:

well got the drive side brakes done. the OE cylinder had some rusty looking carp in it,

Sounds fishy...

6 hours ago, Zed Head said:

Sounds fishy...

Maybe a Flood Car...

7 hours ago, Dave WM said:

On the fence about messing with the other cylinder, no leaks, works fine, better OE quality as long as its not rusted. But I do want to do the pass rear strut cart (its still the OE stuff in there, and while its not leaking

That other wheel cylinder will probably have the same amount of carp(? couldn't resist) in it, even though it is not leaking it's worth cleaning it out and inspecting it.

will do after I heal up some.

Dave, I had rusty carp in both my rear brake wheel cylinders.  Only my passenger side was seized.  Grannyknot’s advice is excellent.

Check the wear pattern on the new shoes.  I found that my parts store shoes seemed to be made for a larger diameter drum.  The contact points were only on the ends of the shoes.  Didn't create much friction.

You could remove the lock pin and try to spin the spindle pin to get an idea of whether or not it will come out. Some are easy some are not.   If it won't spin it won't be easy.

That’s some carp!