88-91 Rear Drum Brakes

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 8:33 pm

Well basicly Im writing this up quickly and to the point, no BS. I had some problems finding free and readily available info on the 88-91 model year brakes. I am by no means a Beretta "expert" or an auto mechanic. Without further babbling...

The rear wheel cylinders are notorious for leaking/blowing out. When you start loosing brake fluid you can be about 90% sure its in the rear wheel cylinders. When the brake fluid gets on the pads it soaks in and reduces your stoping power. Also if its leaking out the cylinders there is less pressure for the front brakes creating a dangerous situation. Even if your rear wheel cylinders are not currently leaking but your changing the rear shoes DO THE CYLINDER!!!

These cars are getting old and tend to have well past normal mileage on them. Especially the years Im wriiting this about (But pertinent to all years with Drums). If your rear shocks need replaced this is also the time to do that. For $30-60 you can do it yourself and are doing 1/2 the work by taking the tires off.

So heres your list of stuff:

Brake cleaner
Brake shoes
2 Cylinder Rebuild Kits
1 brake "All in One" Kit (Includes all hardware except the adjusting lever, roll pin, and the funky bent clip)

I bought all my brake items from Autozone. The rebuild kits were $2 and the All-in-one kit was like $6.

Pads. I bought the cheap ones. Reason being, they are softer. THe lifetime warranty brakes are very abrasive. Its cheaper to replace pads then drums/rotors.

One of my Drums had a lot of groves in it. I think it was due to rust. At any rate you replace this stuff in pairs so I bought new! www.rockauto.com has drums for under $9, Raybestos at that. I didnt have time to wait so I bought at a store for $22 each. Note that the normal parts stores Advane Auto/Autozone charge about $30-40 a drum...

Here is a pic of what a blown wheel cylinder rear drum looks like. The car has 165K on it and an unkown amount of miles on the brakes:

Taking it apart is not rocket science so figure it out. If your car is anything like mine the rear springs are rusted badly. This creates a very questionable situation, and for $6 its not worth risking using the old stuff...

The wheel cylinder rebuild...

Why rebuild? Why not! $2 rebuild kit vs $12+ "remanufactured" wheel cylinder. Why pay someone $10 to do what you can do in under 10 minutes a wheel? The larger factor to me was removing them! I hate brake lines, and at 165K Im sure they wouldnt be very forgiving.

How: Pull the rubber caps off the wheel cylinders. Pull the pistons out, place on the side. There is a rubber piston on each side and a spring inbetween. Remove all this, spray the inards out. Brake fluid WILL leak out the open cylinder.

Sand the pistons with 800 grit or finer wet/dry sandpaper. Remove all tarnish.

Using your clean finger get a bit of fluid out of the cylinder. Wipe on the new rubber pistons to lube them up. Insert one in on one side. Side opposite insert sprint. Push the other rubber piston in. Now put the caps over the cleaned up metal pistons. Put each one on and push the rubber up onto the wheel cylinder.

Here is some pictures of the complete and finished brake job:

Decipha · Post by **Decipha** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 12:32 pm

looks a little different than the 95 base

i noticed the spring is different at he bottom

btw... i'm hoping to get rear disc off a neon soon so rear drum FTL

Decipha · Post by **Decipha** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 12:34 pm

oh yeah... hub removed for clarity... hehe

Jeff P · Post by **Jeff P** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 2:25 am

(Decipha @ Apr. 10 2006,10:32)Q
U
O
T
Elooks a little different than the 95 base
i noticed the spring is different at he bottom
Yeah, your brakes are anchor plate drum brakes and Ryan's are leading/trailing. The switch from leading/trailing to anchor plate occured about mid 1990, probably because of the switch to the newer gas tank (requiring different routing for the e-brake cable).

Decipha · Post by **Decipha** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 3:53 am

Jeff P... smart guy

keep 'em comin'

not a bad pic for a camera phone aye?
sprint nokia pm225... or close

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:23 pm

My 1991 GT had the same breaks as this 88.

Reason for this guide if you will, is that I tore them aaprt and couldnt find a free resource or a picture of my exact brakes.

So I figured I should just take the other wheel off and take pics and make one.

So here I am today. Pulling the motor/trans out

IsaacHayes · Post by **IsaacHayes** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 12:29 am

Is it just the older drums where the wheel cylinders go out easily?

You probably had grooves in the drums because the rivets in the shoes were showing and grinding. They don't look like they would but look closer.

Jeff P · Post by **Jeff P** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 1:02 am

(Ryan from Ohio @ Apr. 12 2006,20:23)Q
U
O
T
EMy 1991 GT had the same breaks as this 88.
And my '91 GT had the other style. When I upgraded to the bigger gas tank on my '88 GT, I took apart the brakes on a bunch of Berettas in junkyards and never saw a 90-1/2+ with the same style as yours. Makes sense, though, considering the factory manual shows both.

Q
U
O
T
ESo here I am today. Pulling the motor/trans out
Have fun

Decipha · Post by **Decipha** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 4:28 am

from making the car stop to making the car go huh... hope everything works out for you

HateMyAuto · Post by **HateMyAuto** » Sat May 27, 2006 12:43 pm

Is it pretty much the same process with the anchor plate types?

Connect with your social network account