Weird rear brake noise

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Belvedere66

Belvedere66

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Have a question for you guys. I had my adjustable axle bearings replaced with green bearings a while back. Always had a strange noise whenever I would turn or move in reverse...couldn't figure it out. I noticed today when I rolled it in neutral out of the garage that the rear brakes sounded like the drum faces were rubbing on the side surfaces of the shoes. Any reason that a green bearing replacement would make the axles sit too far in and suck the drum in far enough to rub the hardware??

It's a 71 dart with stock 8 3/4 housing with 3.23 gear.
 
brian6pac said:
Your going to have to pull the drum off to see what is really going on.
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Nothing too out of the ordinary, I took some sand paper to some rust buildup and will see if that does anything. The noise seems louder than what that could cause but you never know!
 
I totally reinstalled all the shoes and hardware, cleaned everything off, sanded down any rust buildup on the drum. No noises. I don't know what I did but I'm glad it was that easy lol
 
brian6pac said:
Nice!
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Well I thought it was the end of it. Noise is back with a vengeance. Fine going straight but when I make even the slightest turn the drums grind like crazy on the bracket part of the shoes. I checked the axle flange bolts and everything is nice and tight. Would the green bearings have caused the axles to move inward at all? I am thinking about adding small washers behind the drum on every stud to try to push the drum out just a hair.
 
I wouldn't do that, the axle should not move at all with green bearings. You need to post a pic of where it's rubbing.
 
brian6pac said:
I wouldn't do that, the axle should not move at all with green bearings. You need to post a pic of where it's rubbing.
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The axle doesn't move but I was referring to how far in the axles sit as opposed to adjustable bearings. Like how they are installed causes the axles to sit farther in is what I meant by that.
 
I got that, but you said it only does it on turns so that means something is moving.
 
20170414_181719.jpg
 
You could have that area of the drums machine a tad to prevent the contact. Might be able to do it on a brake lathe? The real question is, though, why is it rubbing.....it shouldnt. I wonder if they have the right gasket (s) in the right places. I could be wrong but I think it goes axle housing - brake back plate - gasket and then the bearing retainer. If the gasket is between the back plate and housing you might get the interference.
 
I was going to say put another gasket in between the axle and backing plate might be enough to clear it.
 
Do you have a compressor and an angled die grinder? If so, you could try to smooth that surface down some on the drums where the shoe is rubbing. Use some coarse pads, smooth it down some and try it again.

The rubbing doesn't seem to be too awful bad from the pics.
 
If anyone has seen this before and has an answer for you it will be Cass at Doctor diff. Be is very knowledgeable, bonest and fair. I would give him a call.
 
Bad Sport said:
Do you have a compressor and an angled die grinder? If so, you could try to smooth that surface down some on the drums where the shoe is rubbing. Use some coarse pads, smooth it down some and try it again.

The rubbing doesn't seem to be too awful bad from the pics.
Click to expand...
It sounds a lot worse than it probably is. Turning through a parking lot is incredibly embarrassing. I used a sanding disc on an air tool and smoothed it out and it seemed ok until I drove it a bit then it came back. A guy I know said maybe the bearings were installed too far onto the axle? Does that even make any sense? I figured it goes on until it hits the lip just like where the old style bearing was.
 
d55dave said:
If anyone has seen this before and has an answer for you it will be Cass at Doctor diff. Be is very knowledgeable, bonest and fair. I would give him a call.
Click to expand...
I actually emailed them and the only thing they could think of after discussing what was going on was possibly the shoes being 2-1/2" wide instead of the 1-3/4" that came on pre 72 models
 
If I remember right the front was 2.5" and the rear was 2"
 
I found this thread because I have a similar problem. I’m running green bearings and my drums are hitting the backing plates. If I put washers between the axle and the drum I get clearance. Obviously I wouldn’t drive it like this I’m trying to diagnose how much offset I need. I almost think the green bearings have allowed the axles to go too far inside the axle. Whatever came of your problem ?
 
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