Thread: Just venting

I changed my rear drum brake pads today. I just cant understand why drum brakes exist. they are way harder to change than discs. Silly springs that are near impossible to clip on and when they do usually something gets knocked outta place and you have to undo it all and start again! Spent most of the afternoon fighting with the silly things.

Re-caulked around the bathtub today as well. And after all that bending down my back is killing me. Point is I cant even take a long hot bath to ease my pain, have to wait til tomorrow before using tub.
Well I'm off to the local pool to shower and shave then back for a dram or 2, think I'll drink the good stuff tonight

No real point here I'm just venting

Hmm, If I vented there would be some MOD come along that would have a problem with it.

Drum brakes are old Tech, but they worked well for decades, you must be a young guy eh?

What kind of vehicle are you working on? Drum brake tools are still made, I do have an shoe arcing machine, it's a grinder to arc the shoe to the exact drum arc, pre- breaks in your shoes to a point where a few miles and your drum brakes are working optimum.

Originally Posted by FAL

Hmm, If I vented there would be some MOD come along that would have a problem with it.

Drum brakes are old Tech, but they worked well for decades, you must be a young guy eh?

What kind of vehicle are you working on? Drum brake tools are still made, I do have an shoe arcing machine, it's a grinder to arc the shoe to the exact drum arc, pre- breaks in your shoes to a point where a few miles and your drum brakes are working optimum.

Not that young. I've changed drum brake pads before, last time was probably 20 years ago. As I recall there was a lot of cussing going on back then as well. Its a 2008 Yaris with 220k Km on it so umm 130kish Miles. Did front pads a couple years ago, discs are so much easier!
As to drum brake tools I dont need no stinking tools! I got a jack, ratchet and some pliers who needs anything else? (probably one of the reasons I was having such a bad time)

I can say that if you have all the right tools changing shoes on a drum brake system it makes a major difference in how many times the springs fling off.

There are quite a few things that can make you crazy if you don't have the right tools.

It's good to vent.

I have never had any troubles changing drum brakes.
But I do have an older car that I have worked on for 30ish years.

Drum brakes tend to work much better for parking brakes, plus they are considerably harder to lock up than disc brakes. Any job done with knowledge and the right tools will be considerably quicker and easier than the same job with tools adapted to the task at hand.

Originally Posted by RezDog

I can say that if you have all the right tools changing shoes on a drum brake system it makes a major difference in how many times the springs fling off.

There are quite a few things that can make you crazy if you don't have the right tools.

It's good to vent.

Yeah But I change drum brake pads so infrequently it would be pointless to spend $$$ on buying specialized tools

Originally Posted by AlanQ

Yeah But I change drum brake pads so infrequently it would be pointless to spend $$$ on buying specialized tools

You would be surprised at how little a set of brake pliers and a brake spoon cost.

Get to be my age and you'll feel like that even when you don't do much of anything.

Did you fill the tub with water before caulking? That is the proper way. The weight of the water pushes down on the tub opening the gap a little. This allows caulk to fill the gap and compress when tub is empty, but expand when full without pulling away from the tub.