Another Rear Drum Dragging Thread

[HWYCRZR]

‘68 Polara. Not sure that the spring is the issue. Here’s a picture of mine before I tore it apart in 2015. I most likely replaced these in the mid 80’s and put more than 20,000 miles on them before I parked it in ‘89. 3+ trips between Montana and Colorado in that time frame as well. Long spring on both. Replaced them with a another long spring during th rebuild and have close to 2,000 miles this summer with no issues.
Before rebuild

 

[68PK21 440.6bbl]

Nothing wrong with the springs. Here's mine..
View attachment 306991


Then the spring will be too short..

Well you can argue all you want about having 2 secondary springs on your brakes (wrong) I could care less, what I think you need to do is go learn about the brake basics.

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[HWYCRZR]

Great video, a must for first time brake rebuilders. And a good review if you haven’t done it in a while. More informative than any modern YouTube video.
No mention of spring length or placement. In reality it shouldn’t matter. Short spring in a closer hole should have about the same force as a longer spring in a farther away hole. One could argue leverage Could be better with the short spring, but should not contribute to dragging brakes.
If the short and long springs were that important they would have covered the theory in the video. Key is to have properly dressed backing plates and shoes.

 

[68PK21 440.6bbl]

I think you didn't pay attention to the "Self Energizing Action" segment or are you a engineer of these braking systems? Watch some of the other Master tech videos on drum brakes, they cover the drums up to 1977.

 

[HWYCRZR]

Still no mention of spring importance on the "Self Energizing Action" segment.
If you are assuming that because of the rotation of the secondary shoe rotating down and away from the anchor the longer spring has a better chance of getting hung up on the brake cylinder and not returning as easily as a shorter spring then else, then I could give you that. But if that was the case your brakes could also hang up if you brake in reverse as now you are relying on the longer spring which is also rotating down to return to the anchors.
Whether or not they came out of the factory this way the main point is that the springs are probably not the issue unless they are loose and worn out. If that was the case I should be having brake issues.

 

[rkrochen]

Was trying to ignore this thread but had to jump in. Different shoe and hardware manufacturers utilized different springs. I have had to put the long ones on myself with no issue. What is important here is the strength of the spring not the length. It makes no difference as long as the hardware is good and both sides are the same.

 

[Pauly's67Polara]

Hey guys, sorry for absence, job travel & sick family member...but here's an update...nothing worked. Still hot. Used the correct shorter size primary spring from the 1974 Grand Torino Raybestos H7071. Fit into that upper hole. Shoes return better, more efficiently I would say, but still hot. I'll let you know what I decide to do, discs etc. She's in storage for winter now, but working on my brother's 318 car now.

 

[ofb383]

Hey guys, I'll bring this one back to the table. I've read through all the post as I've got problems with the rear brakes getting very hot, mine is on my 68 Fury, my set up has the pair of long springs. I've tried various things as per the other guys but no joy yet but there are a few things that have been mentioned that I've yet to try. One other thing I suffer with is the rear locks up far too easy as well

 

[Davea Lux]

Hey guys, I'll bring this one back to the table. I've read through all the post as I've got problems with the rear brakes getting very hot, mine is on my 68 Fury, my set up has the pair of long springs. I've tried various things as per the other guys but no joy yet but there are a few things that have been mentioned that I've yet to try. One other thing I suffer with is the rear locks up far too easy as well

Nine times out of ten, the rear lock up is because the shoes have been installed backwards. Be sure the long shoe is to the rear and be sure that there is one long shoe and one short shoe on each side. If this car was converted to disc brakes, a proportioning valve will need to be installed to keep the rears from locking up.

Dave