Rear brake job?? advice.

I just completed the front disc brakes on my car, changed out the rotors & pads... works perfect and easy as pie. now i NEED to do my rear brakes they are screaming for attention, however i have zero experiance with drum brakes. My question is how difficult is this on a 1 - 10 scale for a DIY guy and also what exactly should be changed when doing this job? Can the drums be cut like rotors or must be replaced? i was thinking put new pads, hardware (springs & such) and drums cut or replaced depending. What would be a good price to have a shop do it without parts? Thank you for any help/advice. -Arron

The rear drums are not much more difficult than the front.
I'd say its a 3-4 on your scale. Alot of parts that need to be kept so you know where they all go back.
I'll see if I can get a pic up of the inside.

Sometimes the drums are stuck on , and will require some patients removing. Usually some spray lube around the center of the drum/axle will loosen it. Also sometimes thier are pressed washers on the studs on the rear, cut them off and they dont need replaced.

The drums can be turned just like the rotors, if they are within tolerance. If they are grooved really bad, they'll probly need to be replaced. Replacing the springs and clips is a good idea.
Heating and cooling weaken these parts and can cause the shoes to drag.
Also make sure the adjuster gets cleaned and greased properly. This will help keep them properly adjusted.

Price Depends on where you live, just for labor it would be about 1-2 hours.

Hope this helps !

Heres a pic of the Rear Drum Diag (http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c242/xeroinfinity/SeCond%20Hand/reardrumdiag.jpg)

This should help you out a bit more.

Hey, thanks for the great input. the whole job just scares me so much more than disc brakes there are so many more parts and pieces lol... but i really think its not as hard as it looks. i am using the autozone DIY page and the page you sent me + i have the haynes manual so i hope i can figure it out in a sunday afternoon. 94 gagt by the way and what does this mean "Also make sure the adjuster gets cleaned and greased properly. This will help keep them properly adjusted." and i heard you have to mess with the parking brake when doing the drums im not sure why but are you aware of anything like this? lastly i was reading some posts and they mention driving backwards after the job is done to realign everything? Thanks so much for your input.

the hardest part will probly be getting the drums off.
Your 94 doesnt hav that retractor spring in the diagram I posted.
Thier are two clips w/springs(holding each pad/shoe) they are probly gone by now, but if you get a rebuild kit it will hav new pins/springs/clps .

E-brake is in one of the shoes, in from the back(cable attached), it just pulls out with a twist or two.
Remember which size shoe was where.

And as long as you cleaned and regreased the adjusters, when you back up, and apply the brakes, the brakes should tighten up. If they are all dirty they wont work properly when you back up. These adjusters do sometimes need replaced also due to lack of maintenance.

Good Luck

Hey Xero,

My 93 GAGT has rear drums also. Silly question, is there a performance option for drums, shoes etc...?

Iv'e only just recently started DIY'ing. Prior i always went to my regular mechanic. Just can't afford his prices for regular maint. items anymore.

Cadinrfv, I havnt seen to many performance brake drums.

But you can buy some performance brake shoes for the rear, heres some from NAPA 40$ shoes (http://www.napaonline.com/masterpages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=470&LineCode=UP&PartNumber=AE553R&Description=Brake+Shoes+-+Rear%2c+AE)

NAPA 27$ shoes (http://www.napaonline.com/masterpages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=470&LineCode=SS&PartNumber=SS553&Description=Brake+Shoes+-+Rear%2c+Safety+Stop)

I guess NAPA does hav two different drums, cheeap 23$ ones and some 62$ ones. Heres a link to those, NAPA Drums (http://www.napaonline.com/masterpages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=430&CatId=3&SubCatId=4)

You might be able to find better brakes and drums on the net, I just used NAPA as an example.

Good Hunting.

Completed the rear brake job yesterday after about 3 hours of work on the system, once i get in there with my hands it was not so difficult but the initial look @ the springs and all almost had me running me, but thanks for this forum and other resources (haynes) i complete the job and now the car brakes beautiful. the rear brakes are not that much harder than the front thanks xeroinfinity for your advice.

Glad to hear you got it fixed :thumbsup:

Thankx!
Thats what I'm here for, to help out where/when I can.