I've got silly tiny little jap-spec drums on my AE35, and I must say - they are absolutely pathetic. I thought maybe they needed a bit of adjustment/cleaning, so I did that today, spent half the day in fact. Everything is schmick now (although I do think the drums could use a tad of machining), and the drums are working a lot better than they were before (read: not working at all), but they are still pathetic.

 

They will hold the car on a 15 degree incline, and not much more. Not a chance in hell on my driveway. And definately not a chance in hell of locking up the wheels with the tyres I have on now.

 

I've got the bigger aus-spec drums on my KE55, and while they don't really lock up the wheels with my road tyres (same as the AE35), they do lock up my motorkhana tyres very well, and they will hold my KE55 on a fair incline, even on my driveway if I tug at the handbrake lever hard enough.

 

Are my tiny drums messed up, or is it just the fact that they are so small?

 

Was thinking of buying some bigger aus-spec ones (apparently they bolt on?) but seeing as I have a diff swap in mind, I don't really see the point... Problem is I'd really like to have it all done before the next motorkhana, because as Doug knows, motorkhana with no handbrake is really not a proper motorkhana :)

i know very little about this subject, but i have red up on it and i would like to try !!!

 

u say ure breaks are ither too small or not strong enough. Would it be practicle to use a bigger piston in the drum break to apply more force? - i could be WAYYY of course, just poke me if thats so !

 

do u think it could be possibly because they are not up to machined quality, they could possibly be slipping in the lower spots = crappy breaks?

 

Meh - i gave it a shot, :)

i can get my ke25 handbrake to hold the car on just about any incline you can throw at it, with only 4 or 5 clicks. same size drums. methinks something else is the problem

Hmm, I think I don't know enough about drums to figure out what is wrong, might have to go to a brake place and pay someone to fix the problem... I've tried everything from adjusting the shoes to adjusting the handbrake, it doesn't matter if I set it at 1 click or 10 clicks, it still won't hold. Same with the shoes, slightly binding or not binding at all, still won't hold. I've roughed up the shoes, cleaned everything, but to no avail :)

When you jack the car up you should be able to spin the wheel and it does (2 revolutions???) from memory, then you know your drum brakes are adjusted correctly.. any more means more adjustment is needed any less and you have to back it off..

2 revolutions? Wow, even without the drums on the car (ie no brakes) it won't do that... Maybe my diff is stuffed too. Yay :)

wtf? calm down, its not that

 

that handbrake held the car still on your driveway the day you bought it fook, you were there, pulling the handbrake yourself. i also used to park it halfway up lucky's old driveway which was about as steep as yours, so those size drums can definately do it

 

if your diff was so badly f@$ked you couldn't turn a wheel, you wouldnt be able to drive it either, i don't think that's the solution. you'll probably find you've got the car parked in gear and are jacking up one wheel and trying to turn it? try it in neutral. and with both back wheels jacked up if you've got a locker, for obvious reasons. it's gotta be something simple like adjustment. people who understand drums and can explain (well) how to service them are few and far between these days, which sucks

 

i hate drum brakes, i suck at working with them. they're one of the few things i have no hesitation in dropping off to a mechanic and paying a few dollars to have them working just the way i like :)

No no, I can turn the wheel, in fact I can turn each wheel about 5 degrees or so before the other wheel will start turning, not sure if it's meant to have that much slack in it.

 

And yes, that handbrake held the car when I first got it, and when it weighed a lot less than it does now. It has not a chance in hell of holding the car on that driveway now, even after cleaning and re-adjustment (as best I can do it). It hardly even slows the car down on the driveway.

 

Will probably pay someone else to do it, I have no more ideas. After I save up more money, my $500+ suspension bill today has set me back far far in the red...

from memory my ke55 had a similar problem. i had a locker in mine and this made it so much harder to adjust. but even if you don't have a locker it can still be difficult. the problem i was having was that even tho i cleaned and re-adjusted everything, the wheel cylinders inside the drums were frozen, therefore holding the handbrake from performing its task 100%. new springs inside the drum also helped in fixing this, or even the springs have been put back on the wrong way. after that the were sensational. machining them could also be a good thing to do.

yeah its going to have a bit of backlash, it's an old diff center. i've got a fairly fresh center (and shithouse paddock-basher tailshaft/unis) in the 25, i'll see how much play mine has in comparison tonight

Jamie did a bit of trial fitting of some KE55 drums on a KE30 diff, and as far as we know they do bolt up :)

 

Now I just need to get one more drum and then I'll be swapping them :S

 

Andrew: any luck?

yes!!!!! i scorced a whole diff and drum set for $20! i pick it up in the next few days :S :D :)

Oh hehe, cool :) I'll umm... have to try to get myself down there again sometime...

is it gunna fit in hal? or will we just pull it apart?

According to Jamie, YES :) So yes, KE55 drums here I come :S