Brake pedal is really stiff

Brake pedal is really stiff

Quote 67Dart273

" To repeat. IF THE DRUMS have been turned too far oversize, the shoes will now "in effect" be too small. This means they are only touching in the center of the arc of the shoe, and very little of the shoe surface is doing anything".

ESP47 said
Just an update...

Had all 4 drums turned. Bought new shoes, they all fit perfectly. Pulled all wheel cylinders out and replaced with correct Raybestos cylinders. Bought original Raybestos master cylinder. Bled MC, bled brakes and still have the exact same problem. Car is going to be taken into a shop as soon as I get some money for it. I'm fed up with this. It should not be this difficult to get a damn drum brake system to work correctly. There has got to be some kind of built up pressure somewhere because the pedal is stiff and doesn't want to be pushed down very far and the brakes are really weak. I don't even think I could lock them up if I tried. Yet when I bleed them the pedal will drop to the floor once I open the bleeder. It just makes no sense.

Thanks for explaining the arc of the shoes 67Dart273. Some folks here seem not to understand. If you turn the drums, they get larger and the shoes don't fit inside as well and don't grip as hard. I bet I could had slip some feeler gauges in parts of the brake shoes when you pressed them against the walls of the drums. If they were turned they are now larger inside and the arc is off.

It might not be the main problem but you should had brought NEW brake drums that are smaller - tighter inside. It would had grip better

Thanks again 67Dart273

I'm buying new some new - but older stock - brake drums for my back brakes. Sure glad I didn't waste $ turning the drums. Guess rotors can be turned but not drums - just not too much, better to just replace.

BTW, you can not tell if a brake hose is collapse by looking at the outside of the hoses, again might be the problem, might not be but you can't tell by looking at the outside of the hose. The fluid could had weaken the inside of the hose, gets mussy and doesn't flow fluid easily