I have done the front pads on the car recently so they are good. I am not as experienced doing rear brakes but think I will likely need to replace a lot of stuff.
This started during that cold spell with record cold and the power outages in Texas and all. I drove through a pretty deep puddle of water and parked it right before it really got super cold. The parking brake was set.
Anyway, the next morning I had an appointment quite a distance away. I could barely get the car to go and could tell the rear brakes were frozen. I assumed it was the pads/shoes frozen to the drums and that once I got it going I assumed the heat would melt the ice and the car would go normally. Well, I think water was up in the parking brake cable itself so it remained solidly frozen for probably a couple hundred miles. It later thawed and and seemed fine but wasn't of course.
I recently started hearing a pretty nasty metal on metal sound from the rear brakes and the parking brake is so ineffective I must turn the car off and put it in gear if I need to stop and get out for any reason.
I know the rear brakes are toast and have just received all the "rear brake parts" as listed from AutoZone and OReilly. This includes the shoes, drums, and brake hardware kit. I also got two different parking brake cables. Anything I don't need will be returned but I am not concerned about the money so will replace everything if needed.
How complicated of a job is this considering the likely damage this incident caused? I recently saw a picture posted on the Mirage Facebook where someone had completely run through the front pads and pretty much smoked the CALIPER as well! Am I looking at something like this once I pull the drums or should this be a pretty easy job? I will just take it to a mechanic before I tear into it and have something broken fall out of place and lead to a more complicated repair but would rather do it myself if you don't think it is that big of a deal.
Should I bother to try and have the factory drums turned or should I just consider them scrap metal? I know there are cases where it is preferable to turn factory drums vs use new aftermarkets but figure mine might be gouged beyond that point.
Conor