drums pulling to the right

so I rebuilt my front drum brakes on my 70 dart and it makes a clunking sound from the RF and pulls to the right on hard stops. I replaced the wheel cylinders, springs and all the front brake lines but left the shoes because they looked newer and didn't touch the drums either. I have taken the drums off again to confirm I put everything back right and I did. Could this be because the drums are out of round or any other ideas?

Yes, out of round drum is one possibility. Other causes:
- worn/misadjusted wheel brgs
- used brake shoes not matched to drums
- grease on brake linings
- shoes not fully retracting. This heats up the shoe & changes it's friction characteristics
- different size wheel cyls
- brake adjusters binding, holding shoes against the drum
- pri & sec shoe positions reversed

Check the lower control arm bushings as well. If they are bad, it can cause a caster change when the brakes are applied and cause a pull.

Bewy said:

Yes, out of round drum is one possibility. Other causes:
- worn/misadjusted wheel brgs
- used brake shoes not matched to drums
- grease on brake linings
- shoes not fully retracting. This heats up the shoe & changes it's friction characteristics
- different size wheel cyls
- brake adjusters binding, holding shoes against the drum
- pri & sec shoe positions reversed

Click to expand...

also It doesn't start tell 5 minutes into driving it so maybe it is not full retracting

RustyRatRod said:

Check the lower control arm bushings as well. If they are bad, it can cause a caster change when the brakes are applied and cause a pull.

Click to expand...

how do you test lower control arm bushings?

?? You "rebuilt" them and left the actual brakes "not?"

1...Did you for CERTAIN get the secondary and primary shoes on the correct position?
(Rear mounted shoes have longer lining than the front shoes)
2...Did you for SURE get the drums and shoes back on the same wheel they came off from?
3....You may have them adjusted uneven, that could cause one side to apply "late" but should "even" out some as you apply, unless they are grossly misadjusted
4....You may have one side adjusted too TIGHT causing it to heat up and lose braking effect compared to the opposite side

Do you have a service manual? If not wander over to MyMopar and download one--free.

Gabriel Larson said:

how do you test lower control arm bushings?

Click to expand...

You look at them.

67Dart273 said:

?? You "rebuilt" them and left the actual brakes "not?"

1...Did you for CERTAIN get the secondary and primary shoes on the correct position?
(Rear mounted shoes have longer lining than the front shoes)
2...Did you for SURE get the drums and shoes back on the same wheel they came off from?
3....You may have them adjusted uneven, that could cause one side to apply "late" but should "even" out some as you apply, unless they are grossly misadjusted
4....You may have one side adjusted too TIGHT causing it to heat up and lose braking effect compared to the opposite side

Do you have a service manual? If not wander over to MyMopar and download one--free.

Click to expand...

well it started out as rebuilding the front end after blowing out my lower ball joint and was kind of in a rush because the dart is my only ride to collage at the moment. I do have the manual too.

1. I thought I put the shoes in the correct spot but now I'm doubting myself so I will pull the drum and check
2. I did not cross any of the parts kept them on different tables when rebuilding them
3. them both perfect at the moment but been messing around with the adjustment for a while even if I put the left side tighter it will still pull to the right.

Your looking at the wrong side. If it pulls to the right,that means the right brake is working harder than the left. When it does this stop and see if one drum is much hotter than the other. But I agree you need to start with new quality brake shoes and have your drums turned if they are within specs. I believe 9” drums are discarded at 9.090 and 10” at 10.060. Did you replace both front brake hoses?

Gabriel Larson said:

also It doesn't start tell 5 minutes into driving it so maybe it is not full retracting

Click to expand...

I have had zero luck with 2 cars and front drums recently with the $hit parts you get today... I can almost guarantee you have the same problem I struggled with based on this. Can you reach through the wheel and get your finger on the drum? Drive it 10 minutes without touching the brakes. Bring it to a stop using downshifting and the parking brake. Get out and see if the drum on the side it pulls to is flaming hot. If so the adventure begins. The drums you get today are not round, period and contain half the metal that the OEM drum had. You have to get them turned right out of the box and the odds they will be round after you bolt them to the hubs is almost zero so the best bet is bolt them to the hubs (at the correct torque), mark the position so you can always put them on in the same orientation and take the hub and drum to have turned as a unit then always put them back together the exact same way. What is happening is the few mils the brakes retract are not enough for the out of round and the drums will scrape on the pads pushing them around on the float pins. When spinning the tire you will say "that not that bad" with the small scrape but it IS. It will overheat that side and that brake will get hot and start grabbing like a mother. I went through 3 different drums and 4 different brake shoes on the Dart before I finally got it working well but then decided the wife could not put enough pressure to stop in a panic stop and and went disks. The Coronet I ordered some NOS drums and have not tried to put them on yet so see if that works better. All I can say is the meat of the drum on the face where the bolt holes are IS TWICE as thick as the aftermarket crap we get today. I am anticipating these are round and will stay round because they are so much more beefy.

67Dart273 said:

??
1...Did you for CERTAIN get the secondary and primary shoes on the correct position?
(Rear mounted shoes have longer lining than the front shoes)

Click to expand...

Sounds like you need to pull both front drums and check to see if the primary and secondary shoes are installed correctly.

Then when reinstalling the drums, adjust the shoes in-out so there is equal drag side to side. Pushing on the brake pedal with the drums on, wheels off, will center each set of shoes in the drum. Rotate each drum and using feel and sound, adjust one or the other until they seem equal. A good starting point is to adjust so you can just barely slip the drum on.

IF the self adjusters are working properly, the proper adjustment will be maintained as the shoes wear. They are automatically adjusted when the brakes are applied going in reverse. You can go to a parking lot, back up, apply the brakes and stop. Repeating this several times should fine tune them. IF everything is working right.

Having said all that, drum brakes tend to be grabby anyway due to the self energizing feature. That is why the primary and secondary orientation is so important.

See how much your backing plates are worn where the shoes ride on them.

My mom's 65 mustang would work itself into a lather trying to stop. My dad finally took the backing plates to a machine shop and had them welded and machined. Stops streight.

Post some photos with the drum off. Maybe we can spot something out of whack.

cudamark said:

Post some photos with the drum off. Maybe we can spot something out of whack.

Click to expand...

here it is off. I notice with the wheel off that spinning the drum there seems to be a low spot that is not in contact with the brake shoe.

Do you mean you hear the drum rubbing in one spot when you spin the drum?
For this test, the wheel should be on & nuts torqued because the tightening sequence can distort the drum.
Drums can & do wear/distort over time & become out-of-round. This could be the problem, in two ways:
- brake lining grabs unevenly, pulls car to one side
- shoe rubbing on low spot heats up the lining, changes friction characteristics & brakes pull to one side.

Try swapping L & R drums to see if problem changes sides. Most drums can be skimmed up to 0.060" to correct this issue.