So this is like a crankshaft or whatever? You have to store them properly or else risk the material creeps to where it isn’t in spec anymore.
I assume this could impact rotors as well. I never knew the brake drums had this happen.
You said you got O’Reilly brake drums
But was it top of the line or bottom of the barrel?
I’m asking because I know O’Reilly has at least 3 levels of brakes
Maybe it’s just me but those new brake shoes look like they have about 1/2 the amount of material I would expect to see on a new shoe…
I think there was only one grade of drum and two grades of shoes for my truck or maybe it was the reverse. I ordered the better set of whatever it was.
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I’m going to say something that isn’t helpful at all . . .
We used to have a few 1997 Ford F-250 light duty trucks with the oddball 7-lug rims in our fleet. Still might, but I haven’t seen one in a few months now.
Anyways, ours all had rear disc brakes, not drums
I didn’t even know rear drums were an option, until you showed pictures of your rear brake set up
Do you have the 5.4 liter V8 . . . ?!
tire size LT245-75R16 . . . ?!
I’m surprised that the 3/4 ton truck with 7 bolt wheels has a semi floating rear axle.
That’s the thing that was always weird about this truck
I think it was considered more than a 1/2-ton, but not quite a 3/4-ton . . .
You aren’t telling me anything about this being a strange truck. The 7 lug trucks were bad enough as it was. Mine has some number in the VIN that tells the parts stores less than 1% of the trucks were made like mine. I had a guy at the Ford parts telling me my truck didn’t have a certain part under the hood. It wasn’t listed on the parts diagram so it didn’t have it. I made him go out and look under the hood and he was shocked. It has one of the IMRC setups, another crappy Ford idea. Mine hangs and the truck falls on its face on every cold start because of this thing. I find if I dump Seafoam or something through the intake before every oil change, this keeps it manageable and may have improved it a tad.
Mine is a 4.6L by the way.
I am going to get it into a shop within the next week. I have gotten a big rush of jobs coming down the pipe and simply no longer have the time to mess with it.
Sounds like the only difference between yours and the F-150 is the 7-lug setup . . . 
what’s your gvwr . . . ?!
My observation of Fords, especially the trucks, was that as they ended a production run for a model year they would try to use up parts on hand for the model being closed out in the oncoming model. And sometimes it looked like the decision was made on the fly on the production floor.
I don’t know about that . . .
The Ford F-250 light duty with the 7-lug rims was around for a few years, longer than just the 1997 model year
FYI: I am taking this thing to the shop if I can get out next week. I am done messing with it and figure the new drums are not round.
I didn’t realize that other years used the 7 lug design. I was told by a mechanic that this was the only year but he was wrong. He saw the 7 lugs and told me it was a 1997 before I even told him. This makes no sense and it sounds like the decision was made on the line to use up leftover parts. Some F150’s even came this way from what I found. Why not stick to the old 6 or 8 lug setup?
fyi . . .
even the F-250 light duty of the next body style used the 7-lug design
I don’t think that was the reason
Most of the F-150s of your truck’s generation used the 5-lug setup
A few used the 7-lug setup, yet were labeled F-150
I took it to a different shop (not just the one close to me) and it is now fixed.
Apparently a lot of the aftermarket rotors and drums are basically trash these days. Two sets of drums from Oreilly were both defective. The mechanic said it would be best to just have them turned given the current situation instead of waiting for Motorcraft or whatever. He turned the drums and the rest is history.
I returned the front rotors unopened. These had been bought at Autozone because I had gift cards there. I told them the story about the drums from a competitor and they said that they have seen the same with their house brand. One employee there went through 3x sets of rotors before giving up and going with the GM factory stuff on his car or truck.
I don’t remember if they had different grades at the parts stores for these parts but I always get the better grade if it is available. I guess aftermarket parts are really something to watch out for these days, even from seemingly reputable sources. I deal with the same nonsense on computers as well in my line of work. There is a lot of crap out there that shouldn’t even be for sale.
Thank’s for the update glad all is well agree with you about all the crap for sale I also try to get the better grade when possible.
Do you happen to know how much he cut . . . ?!
I’m asking because it would give us a reference point
Cutting 0.005" isn’t that big of a deal . . . it would mean the drums just needed to be “cleaned up”
But if the guy had to cut 0.040" . . . then the drums were in pretty bad shape, in my opinion
Proper machining of drums and rotors requires getting a somewhat smooth surface and when only a slow deep cut is used the result is the shoes or pads track like the needles on a record player. When the brakes are applied the friction material follows the tracks until it reaches the limits of travel and then snap back toward the center. I have seen young, inexperienced mechanics rushing to finish a job make the mistake of skipping the final shallow cut and resulting in clacking when brakes are lightly applied and possibly that was part of the problem here but to find numerous drums with such a defect seems unlikely but it is possible.
It is reassuring that a competent, honest mechanic solved the problem so effectively and apparently somewhat cheaply.
I’ve also seen seasoned guys get sloppy and only do the fast cut
Not surprisingly, the results weren’t very impressive
Unfortunately, it seems that impatience is the reason why the guys don’t do the job properly
A good mechanic will catch on quickly to multi-tasking their time @db4690. It’s such a waste of time to stand and watch a brake lathe operate but if a work order for a water pump is in the lineup that vehicle can be pulled up near the lathe and while the brakes turn the water pump job can be easily worked on with little loss of time on the brake job. I had a really good young mechanic who averaged well over 50 hours a week for all the years he was with me due to his paying attention to the opportunities for multi tasking. He often took a work order for an engine overhaul and wrestled the vehicle in position between a lift and and a large bench where he found there was zero down time regardless what work came in on a day to day basis because I always took on rebuilds giving plenty of time to deal with unexpected problems.
I agree with you . . . up to a point
I’ve seen guys try to have too many things going on at the same time
And in the end, they didn’t know which end was up, and ultimately second guessed ALL the things they were working on at the same time
I agree . . . work smart
But don’t overextend yourself
Everybody’s got their limits, and once you know what they are, you have to respect them, or suffer the consequences