tufhelp
04-25-2007, 03:54 PM
I had to have the brakes on my 1984 Dodge D-250 ¾ ton PU done the other day. I couldn’t tackle them myself so I had to go to a shop. They found a mess (I was present and saw the evidence) and bottom line was a complete brake job – disc pads and rotors on the front and more serious problems on the rear along with shoes and wheel cylinders.
I wasn’t particularly too happy with the pedal feel after the work was done – not full and spongy to my feel. I got some mechanic double speak and an explanation that I didn’t immediately identify as implausible…
Anyway, 2 weeks later the pedal gets real soft and goes like ¾ of the way to the firewall. I check the fluid and find it extremely low – I’m thinking perhaps they didn’t top it off after the job. I top it off and it improves slightly but still softish. Then last Friday I spotted small pool of fluid on driveway and I took it back in for a look-see. This time I had to leave it at the shop and go on to work.
The report is that the driver’s side rear cylinder has all but blown out and is leaking and this caused the bearing seal to fail – big mess again. Mechanic tells me that the cylinder had to travel to far and it overextended and that was the cause of the failure. I’m all “how can that be?” “Are you telling me that the new brake shoes have worn so much in 2 weeks that the pistons on the wheel cylinder traveled so far that they leaked?” Yep he says, it is because your parking break is not hooked up. “Huh?” I haven’t had that hooked up for over 10 years, no problem, how come now all of a sudden…
He is claiming that the parking break is integral to the automatic rear brake shoe adjuster doing its job. He claimed that every time you apply the parking break the automatic adjuster does its thing. “Huh?” I was under the impression that when you applied the brakes while traveling in reverse is when the automatic adjustment took place on the rear shoes.
The Haynes repair manual I have says “The parking brake is pedal operated and is normally self-adjusting through the automatic adjusters in the rear brake drums. However, supplementary adjustment may be needed in the event of cable stretch, wear in the linkage of after installation of new components.”
This reads to me to mean that the automatic adjusters keep the brake shores properly adjusted therefore making the parking brake pedal self-adjusting because you don’t have to adjust the parking brake cabling as the brakes ware. The pedal cable stays taught since the shoes are always where the should be due to automatic adjustment – NOT that the automatic adjusters are operated by the application of the parking brake. Whew! That took a lot of words to get out!!!
I felt the poop piling up around my ankles the more I listened to this chap – anyone have any knowledge of this system? The manual does not explain the auto adjust feature, only mentions the integral parts in the dismantle and reassembly phase of the brake job. The pictures do not seem to link the parking brake lever that the pedal pulls to apply the rear shoes to the auto adjust mechanism. They are in close proximity but it does not seem to have anything to do with the automatic adjusting system.
They stood behind the work and replaced the broken/ruined parts, did complete bleed and adjustment and charged me for the wheel cylinder and the seal – no labor. A little over $35.00. This time when I left I had 100% pedal and it stops on a dime… I called the manager and let her know that I felt the lads had given me short shrift and this was more like the job I expected in the first place. Although I’m “satisfied” now, I didn’t want to even pay for the parts – all their fault with a heaping helping of mechanical double speak!
I wasn’t particularly too happy with the pedal feel after the work was done – not full and spongy to my feel. I got some mechanic double speak and an explanation that I didn’t immediately identify as implausible…
Anyway, 2 weeks later the pedal gets real soft and goes like ¾ of the way to the firewall. I check the fluid and find it extremely low – I’m thinking perhaps they didn’t top it off after the job. I top it off and it improves slightly but still softish. Then last Friday I spotted small pool of fluid on driveway and I took it back in for a look-see. This time I had to leave it at the shop and go on to work.
The report is that the driver’s side rear cylinder has all but blown out and is leaking and this caused the bearing seal to fail – big mess again. Mechanic tells me that the cylinder had to travel to far and it overextended and that was the cause of the failure. I’m all “how can that be?” “Are you telling me that the new brake shoes have worn so much in 2 weeks that the pistons on the wheel cylinder traveled so far that they leaked?” Yep he says, it is because your parking break is not hooked up. “Huh?” I haven’t had that hooked up for over 10 years, no problem, how come now all of a sudden…
He is claiming that the parking break is integral to the automatic rear brake shoe adjuster doing its job. He claimed that every time you apply the parking break the automatic adjuster does its thing. “Huh?” I was under the impression that when you applied the brakes while traveling in reverse is when the automatic adjustment took place on the rear shoes.
The Haynes repair manual I have says “The parking brake is pedal operated and is normally self-adjusting through the automatic adjusters in the rear brake drums. However, supplementary adjustment may be needed in the event of cable stretch, wear in the linkage of after installation of new components.”
This reads to me to mean that the automatic adjusters keep the brake shores properly adjusted therefore making the parking brake pedal self-adjusting because you don’t have to adjust the parking brake cabling as the brakes ware. The pedal cable stays taught since the shoes are always where the should be due to automatic adjustment – NOT that the automatic adjusters are operated by the application of the parking brake. Whew! That took a lot of words to get out!!!
I felt the poop piling up around my ankles the more I listened to this chap – anyone have any knowledge of this system? The manual does not explain the auto adjust feature, only mentions the integral parts in the dismantle and reassembly phase of the brake job. The pictures do not seem to link the parking brake lever that the pedal pulls to apply the rear shoes to the auto adjust mechanism. They are in close proximity but it does not seem to have anything to do with the automatic adjusting system.
They stood behind the work and replaced the broken/ruined parts, did complete bleed and adjustment and charged me for the wheel cylinder and the seal – no labor. A little over $35.00. This time when I left I had 100% pedal and it stops on a dime… I called the manager and let her know that I felt the lads had given me short shrift and this was more like the job I expected in the first place. Although I’m “satisfied” now, I didn’t want to even pay for the parts – all their fault with a heaping helping of mechanical double speak!