Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Any advice on replacing rear brakes?

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Missouri Ozarks
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    222
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked 58 Times in 39 Posts

    Any advice on replacing rear brakes?

    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



  2. #2
    Moderator inuvik's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Coos Bay, OR
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    3,835
    Thanks
    4,758
    Thanked 1,562 Times in 1,120 Posts
    If you were dragging your rear brakes for that long I would replace the entire drum assembly with new shoes. That much heat can't be good on the wheel bearings.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 automatic: 40.5 mpg (US) ... 17.2 km/L ... 5.8 L/100 km ... 48.6 mpg (Imp)


  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Missouri Ozarks
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    222
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked 58 Times in 39 Posts
    Thanks. I didn't get wheel bearings but will get those as well.

    Conor

  4. #4
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2021
    Location
    mexico
    Country
    Mexico
    Posts
    7
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
    Here in Mexico there are no good mechanics, and apart from that the pads always make noise if you don't put brembo and akebono.
    It is very easy to do that job, you buy the pads and the rotors, grease with lithium, and wala

  5. #5
    Moderator inuvik's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Coos Bay, OR
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    3,835
    Thanks
    4,758
    Thanked 1,562 Times in 1,120 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by cwatkin View Post
    Thanks. I didn't get wheel bearings but will get those as well.

    Conor
    If it was me I'd get the drums with the wheel bearings already pressed in along with the lug bolts unless you have the ability with a hydraulic press to install them yourself.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 automatic: 40.5 mpg (US) ... 17.2 km/L ... 5.8 L/100 km ... 48.6 mpg (Imp)


  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Missouri Ozarks
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    222
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked 58 Times in 39 Posts
    I finally got around to this and the rear brakes definitely needed to be done. I have a few tips and such and questions as another problem has developed.

    1. If you don't have a wheel bearing press, get the loaner tool one at OReilly for $400. You get all your money back of course when you return this and it makes the job go from almost impossible and frustrating to very easy. I DESTROYED the second wheel bearing trying to drive it back in with a large diameter socket. This doesn't work and I shattered it so I bought an $80 MasterPro at Oreilly as a replacement. I decided to re-use the other one for now as this is a super easy job with the press. I may have damaged it as I removed and reinstalled it with a large diameter socket first before I destroyed the other one. It is on the driver side. I planned to re-use the bearings for now as they are not cheap and removal is easy with the press.

    2. Brakes feel a lot better. Parking brake holds now, and no more grating noise. That is the good news.

    3. The bad news is that the traction control kicks on now when I am starting out in 1st gear and the car is gutless of course. I didn't take it out on the roads to see if it would do it at speed just yet but I can turn off the traction control as a workaround until I fix this. I read that I might have installed the wheel bearing backwards so took it out and reversed it. This was easy with the loaner tool press. The writing on the bearing was facing outward from the car where it was inward on the old one. The bearings looked symmetrical besides the writing but I flipped it around, figuring this might fix it. It did not. The traction control light still comes on and the car has no power while it is flashing. Again, I can disable traction control for a workaround but want to get this fixed.

    Did I damage the bearing that I re-used or is the new bearing not made to be compatible with the sensor? I didn't take off the drum with the original bearing reinstalled but couldn't feel any magnetism on either side of the replacement bearing.

    Thanks,

    Conor

  7. #7
    Senior Member Top_Fuel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Ohio
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    3,699
    Thanks
    2,582
    Thanked 2,537 Times in 1,471 Posts
    I'm confused... Did you buy bare replacement drums like these? Why did you have to mess with the bearings at all?

    Name:  bare_drum.jpg
Views: 348
Size:  51.0 KB


    Here is the back side of the OEM drums on my 2015. The arrow is pointing to the ABS ring that presses onto the inside of the drum hub. Is this piece installed on your drums?

    Name:  oem_drum.jpg
Views: 373
Size:  87.5 KB

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)


  8. #8
    Senior Member Cobrajet's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Olympia, WA
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    3,126
    Thanks
    1,197
    Thanked 1,848 Times in 1,101 Posts
    It is possible to hammer a replacement bearing in and out of the drums...I have done it. The key is using your oven and freezer.

    Before installing the bearing stick the drum in your oven for 10 minutes at 250 degrees. Stick the bearing in your freezer overnight.

    The heat will cause the drum to expand a bit, the cold will cause the bearing to contract a little bit. A few sharp blows with a BFH and the job is done.

    Of course, a hydraulic press is easier still!

  9. The Following User Says Thank You to Cobrajet For This Useful Post:

    inuvik (05-17-2021)

  10. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Missouri Ozarks
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    222
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked 58 Times in 39 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Cobrajet View Post
    It is possible to hammer a replacement bearing in and out of the drums...I have done it. The key is using your oven and freezer.

    Before installing the bearing stick the drum in your oven for 10 minutes at 250 degrees. Stick the bearing in your freezer overnight.

    The heat will cause the drum to expand a bit, the cold will cause the bearing to contract a little bit. A few sharp blows with a BFH and the job is done.

    Of course, a hydraulic press is easier still!
    Yeah, I used the mechanical press from Oreilly which looks like a ball joint press. I was done using a hammer after busting an $80 bearing. The loaner tool costs $400 but works great!

    I am going to do my GF's car today if we get time but will probably plan to buy a complete drum next time. I already have the stuff on hand so why not just use it?

    Conor



Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •