SimonRHC Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 I have a live axle seven with drums fitted on the rear.When the drums get warm I start getting an intermittent squeak as the left hand rear wheel rotates.I can stop it by gently left foot braking or putting a click on the hand brake.It also seems to stop temporarily when I turn right.I assumed that this is because the drum is slightly warped and the heat is accentuating it being out of shape.I have changed the left rear drum but it still persists. I have swapped the drums side to side but it still persists, all be it greatly reduced. Why would it be side related not drum related unless it was the fluid?There is no bleed nipple on the right hand side. I’m assuming that the rear is bled from just the left and that you don’t have to loosen the pipe coupling on the right hand side to bleed it?I had tweaked the shoe adjusters to improve the pedal feel but now I have slackened them right off.I have been bleeding the brakes because I did wonder if a small amount of air/moisture in the system might get hot and just creep the shoes out so that they are slightly kissing the drum.There is about 0.5mm of float in the half-shafts where I think they are sliding in the axle casing (this need shimming at some point). I did wonder if the float was allowing the sides of the shoes to touch the vertical face of the drum but there are no witness marks.What about getting someone to press the brake pedal whilst the drums are being tightened up so that they are centralised as they are tightened? Maybe they’re not going on concentrically?I definitely think that it’s a heat related but where and with what?Any ideas, I’m starting to panic!Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted September 1, 2015 Member Share Posted September 1, 2015 Where are you taking it? (Had mine done today at SJM in Shotover. They're all enthusiasts there.)Most us try to get our brakes a bit warm before testing... but if the retardation is OK and the squeal only happens when they're warm can you have the testing done while they aren't?. (And do testers care about squeal if the force and the visual inspection are OK?) That should give you a bit more time to sort it out.What did the old pads look like?Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonRHC Posted September 1, 2015 Author Share Posted September 1, 2015 Hi Jonathan.The old pads looked ok.Even if the car passes its MOT (the braking force is ok) the the constant squeak-squeak-squeak turns heads and is getting on my nerves!I've worked my way through the logical things but this has foxed me.Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim 123 Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Is it possible that one or both pads have uneven wear front to rear along their length? Or the shoes that the pads mount on to may have a slight distortion? (Non constant radius around circumference, or a slight lateral twist). Swapping the shoes over between left and right side might give a clue.Another thought could be to take a file to the outer edges of the LH brake pads and removing a few thou could give some insight into the half shaft float option?Hope this helps, and best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonRHC Posted September 1, 2015 Author Share Posted September 1, 2015 Thanks Jim, sounds like a good plan swapping the shoes side to side.They might have a non constant diameter. They are about 50000 miles old and I didn't know that you could adjust them at the fulcrum. I'm guessing that the friction material is not an even depth around the circumference but the noise started before I adjusted them. I'm going to bleed the brakes one last time and then try it.CheersSimon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gun Bunny Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 From experience I would be looking more at the wheel bearing than the hydraulics. If the half shafts are walking along the bearing, the lip on the brake drum that never normally gets any contact will start making intermitent contact with the edge of the brake shoes.When the rear bearing becomes worn it will either rumble or squeal.Olly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonRHC Posted September 1, 2015 Author Share Posted September 1, 2015 The bearings are tight on the half shafts.I think that the play is the outer race of the wheel bearing in the axle casing.Another good point about the brake shoe running on the unworn surface of the drum.I'll investigate more tomorrow.CheersSimon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonRHC Posted September 4, 2015 Author Share Posted September 4, 2015 Passed!I found some nearly new drums (no wear lip) and re-bled the system.what ever made the difference has fixed it.thanks for you commentsSimon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Riches Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 OK...... come on, did the man from MoT say, yes? Hopefully affirmative. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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