The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Squealing Brakes (Wakes up the neighbourhood.)

I just replaced my front brakes on my '51. I took it for a drive and the three stop signs I stopped at made me realize, it's time to go home.
The brakes squealed so loud, I'm sure animals heard it for miles.
I decided to take the drums in to be machined and they looked great. Put everything back together and still the same thing.
I've got new brake pads, new wheel cylinders, machined drums and I've adjusted the adjustment screw to spec of the shop manual. Wheel bearings are good with a fresh pack of grease and put back on spindle to shop manual spec.

Am I missing something? Help Please.

Lode51,

How do you adjust the brake shoes? The 1951 instructions are to tighten the shoes until a light drag is felt. Then you back off 14 notches.

I have always wondered if the gaskets were really to help with this problem.

Yup did it as per the manual. The adjustment screw is adjusted through a slot in the back plate. Did it to the letter.
It's when I am in the last 20 feet before a stop. When the most pressure is on the pads, is is a very loud squeal.

Which gaskets are you referring?

Hy Lode51, if I'm reading what you wrote correctly, you put new brake linning on unturned drums. If that is the case, you may have created hard spots in the linning which will squeal. You have turned the drums, but the hards spots are still there and they're not consistant with the drum surface, try sanding the surface a bit to break the glaze on the linning. Of course there are linnings which are hard and can cause noises. Linnings must eventually wear into the shape of the drum, [consentric with the drum] and this process does take a while, as it is doing this your contact patch is relatively small and concentrated, which can glaze up that patch, and become noisy. If you take your linnings and drums to a good brake shop they can arc your linning to a more correct shape for your drums, hope that helps.

Yes, unturned drums first. Then after squeal, had drums turned. I'll give them a bit of a sand and have a look. Thanks.

Lode51,
I believe there has been discussion of a paper gasket between the drum and the hub. The post may have been about the rear brakes but I am assuming the same exists in the front. I personally can't see what other function a gasket would serve other than some type of isolation between the two parts.

Squealing is a frustrating problem. I have a little of that with my front 1 Ton brakes, from tome to time. Years ago when I worked in a garage, I have seen brakes squeal for the first time after a brake job, when heat had been used to remove the drum. Also, some drums used to have springs around the outside and I was under the impression that they were there to prevent squealing.

I have only seen these used between the rear drums and the axles, but I suppose they could be used on the front.

They might have been used as a seal, but they also seem to help to keep the drum from "rust-welding" to the rear axle.