Whether you’re new to car buying or haven’t purchased a car in many years, it can be challenging to know what to look for when searching for a new vehicle.
There’s so much to consider, including whether you prefer a 3- or 5-door vehicle and a gas, electric or hybrid car.
As well as this, you also need to think about other things, such as whether you’d prefer a car with or without brake drums.
If you want to learn everything you need to know about brake drums, including what they are, and the pros and cons of cars with them, keep reading below:
What Are Brake Drums?
If you’ve never repaired a car, there’s a good chance you won’t know what a brake drum is.
In simple terms, a brake drum is a cylinder attached to a vehicle’s wheel.
When a person presses the brake pedal in their car, this cylinder moves outwards to reduce the speed of the vehicle.
The Pros and Cons of Cars with Brake Drums
Some advantages of brake drums include:
● Drum brakes often provide more breaking force than disk brakes.
● They are cheaper to replace.
● They last longer than disk brakes.
● They don’t generate as much heat as alternative brakes.
● They are easier to recondition and replace.
● They don’t rust as quickly.
Some of the disadvantages of brake drums include the following:
● If heavy braking occurs often, brake drums can distort.
● Excessive heating of the brake drum can cause the brake fluid to vaporize.
● They are more complex to produce.
How to Tell if a Brake Drum Needs Replacing
As mentioned above, one of the main benefits of buying a car with brake drums is that they are easy to replace.
However, if you’ve never owned a car, it can be hard to tell what condition the brake drums are in and whether or not they need replacing.
If you want to know how to tell if a brake drum needs replacing, here are some of the signs to look out for:
● Your brake pedal doesn’t feel the same – you may feel vibrations when you press the brake pedal.
● Your hand brake is looser than usual – if you have to yank your hand brake up to stop the car from moving, your disk brakes may need replacing.
● You hear a scraping noise when braking – this occurs when your brake drum has worn away.
How to Replace a Brake Drum
Although many people take their car to a garage to replace the brake drums, you don’t need to. You can do it yourself.
If you decide to replace the brake drums yourself, here are some steps you must follow.
● Loosen the wheel locking nuts – do this before you raise the vehicle.
● Raise the vehicle – use jack stands to secure the vehicle.
● Remove the wheel – this will expose the brake drum.
● Remove the brake drum – you will need to move the brake drum back and forth to do this.
● Clean the inner workings of the drum with brake cleaner – this includes the springs, shoes, and wheel cylinder.
● Compare the new brake shoes with the old ones – you will want to check your new brake shoes look the same as your old ones.
● Dismantle the brake – there are videos online that show you how to do this
● Rebuild the brake.
● Put everything back together.
Buying a new car can be extremely exciting; however, it can also be a stressful time too.
There’s so much to consider, including whether you’d prefer a car with brake drums.
We hope that the information above will make this decision easier for you.
Brake drum information taken from onlinecarparts.co.uk
Information on how to fix a brake drum taken from nubrakes.com
Recent Comments