First drum brake job.

Fun times with the rear brakes last night... :) Long story short, I got the passenger side done which was scraping. Felt great about my first drum brake change, although I was thinking WTF when all the parts came out, even when I had them lined up as they came out in order. Good thing I have two drums to compare. :) I underestimated how strong the return spring is, and struggled for nearly 30 minutes on getting enough pull to snap it to the other shoe.

However, on the driver's side I found a trick, but I think there was air already in the brake lines even before I started. The driver's side cylinder would push the opposide side out, each time I pushed on the other one. The passenger side didn't do any of this, they both went in nicely separately.

Anyway, I accidentally pushed one side of the cylinder right out, and brake fluid seeped out... YIKES! I cleaned it and set it back in place and it worked fine, but I got some air in the system and my fiancee was in bed, so no bleeding of the brakes took place last night.

Anybody had similar experiences?

yeap, it just happened to me about 3 weeks ago. i was doing the rear brake job on my car and one side of the sylinder just poped out.
so i had to bleed the brakes. i would recomend to bleed all 4 brakes. i had at least a few bubles comeout of every line.
blead the sides at least 3 times to get as much air as possible.
make sure you keep the eye on the brake fluid level under the hood.

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Originally posted by shepherd79
make sure you keep the eye on the brake fluid level under the hood.

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yeah, sucking air into the system all the way from the master cylinder is NOT fun to bleed.

yea i had the same problem hwen i first got my car they had changed the fronts and not the back, and they were worn pretty unenevenly so i changed them, having a little trouble with the self adjusters <which didn't self adjust> and finally got them on right only to realize upon a test drive that i had fucked up. driving in a high traffic with almost no brakes is fun but at the same time scary, especially when your muffler falls off and your friend is jumping out as you're gearing down to pull into a parking lot. so after that my brakes haven't been the same, ibled them and now they're a litle touchy but hey at least they work.

Yes, the same thing happened to me the first time I did them. The trick is to pretty much assmeble everything and kind of slide them up into place. It is way too easy to pop the piston out of the cylinder.

Either a pair of brake spring pliers or one of the Craftsman Robogrip pliers works great for grabbing the springs. Still, the pads are MUCH easier to do. I have done drum brake on several cars and this on is by far the most difficult.

I replaced the master cylinder, brake booster and rebuilt the front calipers. Bleeding that thing was no fun. Did most the work by droplight. Lemme tell ya, the nuts holding the booster in aren't the easiest things to get out. A U joint is a must for that.

Anyway, I feel ya. At least you'll stop nicely :)

UPDATE:

Goto bleed the brakes. Both rear bleed screws snap off.

I bled the passenger side no probs, with the hard line screw. The driver's side was more challenge. It was the side that the cylinder popped out of. The hard line snapped. A quick trip to the hardware store to get a straight line was made. I took the 8" length and made a new hard line. :super:

We bled the fronts as well, and unfortunately the cylinder has air trapped at the top it appears. Bleeding from the bleeder screw would solve this, but it broke. Off to get another cylinder tonight.

It looks like cake to replace, and my buddy has a special tool to stretch the springs.....

So the pedal is still mushy, but it does stop well.

UPDATE #2>

Bought a new brake cylinder for the side where the piston came out.

Installed it... PERFECT.

Thanks for all your information.