88-91 Rear Drum Brakes
Posted: 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:
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: