My mechanic put on new brake shoes and turned the drums twice ($190), but told me that they were making a noise (that they were not making before)and the only way to make it stop was to put in new drums. He said that even with the noise my brakes are completely safe. When I left his shop the noise was very low, but when I drove the car again a couple of hours later, it was louder and whiny.
Are my brakes safe even though they make noise or is it necessary to replace the drums? Will replacing the drums get rid of the noise or will the noise eventually go away (my mechanic said it may)?
Can you describe the noise?
Drums are not expensive. Why not replace them?
Drums can have hairline fractures that dont show up visually, and without more information its impossible to diagnose from here. One can tell by “clanging” the removed drum, as a cracked drum will make a dull “thud”, or by doing some form of nondestructive testing like dye penetrant, but frankly it’s cheaper to just replace the drum.
My recollection is that this model had disc brakes in the front and drum brakes in the rear.
Are you referring to the front brakes, the rear brakes, or the brakes on all 4 wheels?
Odds are that after machining the drums twice they probably do need replacement. However, the drums themeselves may not be the problem.
Does this car have steel wheels or alloys?
I’m referring to the rear brakes. The disc brakes in the front were just put in October last year (less than 10,000 miles ago).
My mechanic said that he couldn’t machine them anymore or turn them again or something to that effect without making the brakes unsafe. I decided not to spend the extra $110 on new drums because he said the brakes were safe even though they made noise and I don’t have more money to spend right now (b/c I also had the oil changed and a freon recharge so I’m tapped). The noise was a low friction like…shhhh. But later the same day it had a whiny noise that began lower and ended higer pitched and louder than the original…shhhh.
I called my mechanic and told him about the noise change after I left his shop yesterday. He said that one of the drums is the problem b/c it is in worse shape that the other but that I would need to replace it to cure the noise problem. Of course, it would be better to replace both he said. I asked if not replacing the old drums would wear my new brake shoes down faster and he said yes. So he said he would sell me two new drums at cost and install them on monday ($65) if I could do it. So I decided to borrow the money from my sister until I get paid.
Thank you for your quick answer to my questions. And I’m open to any more information you might have for me about this, so please post if you have more advice.
I called my mechanic and told him about the noise change after I left his shop yesterday. He said that one of the drums is the problem b/c it is in worse shape that the other but that I would need to replace it to cure the noise problem. Of course, it would be better to replace both he said. I asked if not replacing the old drums would wear my new brake shoes down faster and he said yes. So he said he would sell me two new drums at cost and install them on monday ($65) if I could do it. So I decided to borrow the money from my sister until I get paid.
Thank you for your quick answer to my questions. And I’m open to any more information you might have for me about this, so please post if you have more advice.
Maybe answer OK’s question… Does this car have steel wheels or alloys?