Front drum brakes dragging???

[phate]

Hey everyone I seemed to have run into another problem. After just putting on the front wheel for the first time in 6 months and spinning it by hand I can feel and hear the brakes dragging. I then removed the wheel and sanded the drum with fine sandpaper to no avail. I checked the shoes and sanded them a bit too also to no avail. My question is is that just happening i.e. because a bit of rust is decreasing the drum diameter, etc and it will go away or is this something wrong that needs to be fixed. 1980 xs400g. thanks for all the help.

 

[bcware]

You probably just need to adjust the elaborate lever system on the front wheel/hub. There are many points of adjustment.

 

[phate]

Thanks for the reply and I forgot to mention that I didn't put on the linkages yet (it's just 2 splined shafts sticking out) is that what's causing it?

 

[Scorpio1963]

Hey everyone I seemed to have run into another problem. After just putting on the front wheel for the first time in 6 months and spinning it by hand I can feel and hear the brakes dragging. I then removed the wheel and sanded the drum with fine sandpaper to no avail. I checked the shoes and sanded them a bit too also to no avail. My question is is that just happening i.e. because a bit of rust is decreasing the drum diameter, etc and it will go away or is this something wrong that needs to be fixed. 1980 xs400g. thanks for all the help.

Front drum brakes?Id switch over disk

 

[phate]

Yeh I would just not on my student budget

 

[bcware]

I would think that the shoes are not in correctly, the springs are worn too much, or the shoes are the wrong size if the lever system is not even installed.

 

[drewpy]

probably just need bedding in, they all slightly drag a bit.

please don't sand them, they are profiled to suit the drum and your putting in high spots where you haven't sanded and then the front will lock up.

 

[faber]

I just went through this, remove it all, clean it well, replace the springs if they're too worn out.

When you pull the brake apart make sure to clean everything with brake cleaner really well, the shoes should be able to collapse the camshaft without issue. In my case they were sticky and oily and the shoes would drag on them. After a good cleaning, no problem =)

 

[phate]

Thanks for the replies and faber I did do that I cleaned it all up and greased all the necessary parts. The shoes are flush on the cams yet they still drag. I am just gonna wait until I fire it up and take it around the block a few times and see what happens

 

[phate]

I figured it out. One of the pads was lifting off the shoe and hitting the drum. Thanks for all the help.

 

[faber]

heh, I've had that only happen on heavily worn pads, glad you got it fixed!

 

[phate]

Yeh I think it was the brake cleaner that dissolved some of the glue

 

[bcware]

You're not going to use that shoe are you?

 

[phate]

Of course not just ordered a pair off of flea-bay

 

[bcware]

They have FRONT drum shoes on there? I have always had a hard time finding them for the front!

 

[phate]

Yeh the front drum shoes. Defiantly not many of them but there are a few out there you just have to get lucky

 

[XSLeo]

When you install a wheel with drum brakes you should have all the actuating parts on and adjusted right, then before you tighten the axle pull the lever and hold it in place while you tighten the axle.
The brake backing plate has some play around the axle and inside the drum. Pulling the lever pushes the shoes evenly against the drum and centers the backing plate in the drum. If you tighten the axle first the backing plate won't be centered and this lets the shoes drag.
Leo