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Brakd Drums causing rear end vibration

82TexasBurban

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I'm narrowing it down to this. I've had 2 sets of tireson and balanced several times and still have vibrations at around60...enough to be annoying at high way. Drive shaft rebalanced as well. Still get the exact same vibration. Has anyone else had issues with old brake drums being out of balance. I'm just going to put new Centrics on and see if that helps. I haven't been able to find a shop that balances old drums.
 
Out of round usually will only cause a vibration when braking. Its easy to detect by applying just the emergency brake. If it pulses when stopping, then the drums need attention.

But, if you feel it while not braking, then you need to check everything else first. It sounds like you already have, but be sure to rotate tires and rims, not just change tires.
Most brake drums are balanced from the factory. You can usually see the weights welded on the outside.
If you see a place with the remains of spot welds and a mark, then one of the weights may have come off.

Another consideration, wheel bearings will sometimes cause vibrations when going bad.
A trick nobody seems to think of, is to simply drive down a four lane or a deserted two lane with someone following you.
You really need two people in the second car. One to drive and one to watch. But they can come up alongside you and watch the wheels.
Then move over and have them do the same on the other side.
If you have much of a vibration, it will be visible. That at least lets you narrow it down to which wheel.
 
Thanks! I will inspect the drums and try out the other 2 tests. These are the original drums so I am not sure how many times they have been redone between brake jobs.
 
Thanks! I will inspect the drums and try out the other 2 tests. These are the original drums so I am not sure how many times they have been redone between brake jobs.


There should be a maximum size stamped on them somewhere. You use a tool to measure the inside diameter, and if its larger than that size you need to get rid of them because they have been turned too many times and are too thin.
 
I've never seen a drum cause imbalance or vibrations,even ones badly rusted that lost some meat on the outer portion or had a few ribs knocked off when they were hammered off to do a brake job...not to say its not possible,just highly unlikely..

I'd suspect a bent or dented rim,maybe a bent axle flange,if the tires check out OK...usually you'll get a wobble along with vibrations if something is bent ..a bad u-joint or dented driveshaft ,or one with the wrong pinion angle can cause this also..or u-joints that are not phased properly..
 
I'd switch the drums side-to-side and see what changes before I paid for new ones. While they're off you could have the machine shop mic 'em though, like Fordum says.

They're close enough in (i.e. of small diameter) when compared to, say, the tires, that the rotational mass or whatever you call it is fairly small.

Now, I'd wonder if the shoes are rubbing on them funny or something; more than out of round, that they just need turning (as in on the lathe). Again, I'd take 'em to the machine shop and show 'em to the guy.

-- A
 
I'm narrowing it down to this. I've had 2 sets of tireson and balanced several times and still have vibrations at around60...enough to be annoying at high way. Drive shaft rebalanced as well. Still get the exact same vibration. Has anyone else had issues with old brake drums being out of balance. I'm just going to put new Centrics on and see if that helps. I haven't been able to find a shop that balances old drums.


I had a drum go 'out of round' or 'out of balance' on my '95 Yukon. I don't remember which.

I chased that vibration forever. Finally gave up and swapped drums out and the problem went away.

It can happen.
 
I've got a similar vibration in my 84 Jimmy at about the same speed. I'm pretty sure mine's ready to spit up a wheel bearing. I had an old Ford pickup that made the same noise when the bearings went away...about every 6 months
 

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