wheel cylinders.

[phurn]

well im finally getting round to fixing my dmn brakes., the drivers side front wheels cylinders are leaking and replacements have just been ordered, question is, do i replace the shoes aswell since they'l no doubt be very wet, or, if theyre in otherwise good condition is it worth just cleaning them up with brake fluid cleaner and seeing how i get on?

[dellerie]

i wouldn't drive a car with defective brakes.

[phurn]

they only leak very very slightly., trust me i wouldnt be in it if it was any way dangerous. mor just annoying tbh.

[dellerie]

and the chances of them failing you when you need them the most increases.

do the right thing and don't drive the car until the brakes are sorted.

[phurn]

eitherway, my question was whether brake fluid covered shoes are worth cleaning up or replacing (odviously if they look old then ill replace them anyway) tbh i cant see a reason why they arent worht giving atry, i mena im gonna have to use the same stuff ot makes ure the drum itself is free from brake fluid, if i want my brakes ot actually stop that is =/

[cadetchris]

personally, i would give them a quick wipe down with a petrol rag, let them dry off and then fit as normal. when you take it out for its first run, give it a few hard brakes, just to dry them out thoroughly.

as for driving it, if they are leaking just a little, its perfectly safe to drive in my point of view, brakes (in my experience) dont just let go, you do notice it as they let go

[bmcecosse]

If the leaks are indeed small - the shoes won't be contaminated...... If the shoes are wet -it's pretty hopeless. The fluid soaks in - and no matter how much cleaning you do - more fluid seeps up from below and greatly reduces the braking forces - also causing snatching and pulling to one side. New shoes are not dear - fit them ! In my student youth I well remember boiling up Morris 8 brake shoes in washing soda mix to try to remove fluid to try to scrape through the MOT.... It was never a satisfactory method. I've also been known to soak the shoes in toluene (carb cleaner spray) - wipe off what I can - and then set the shoes on fire.......Repeated several times, it works for very minor(!) surface contamination - but again hopeless if the fluid has soaked in.

[phurn]

So basically, take a look and if soaking... forget it. Any recommendation for shoes ?. I found the cylinders online, Tenner for the pair.... didn't sound a bad price.

[bmcecosse]

ebay usually has some deals. If fitting new shoes at one side - do the other side too to retain the balance. I'm guessing at that price - they will be the non original cylinders - which some have found don't last long - not long at all........

[phurn]

I figured they were worth a go for a tender mind. They're from a motor factors in wolverhampton, which is non too far from me. The cylinders and shoes were replaced on the other side just before I got the car, so ill inspect them but I'm hoping they'l be ok.

[beero]

Don't shoes come in axle pairs (4 of) ??
I would change both sides at the same time and keep them balanced as Roy says.

[jothina]

in my experiance cheap pattern parts resulted in having to do the job twice and replace otherwise unworn shoes again.
waste of time and money
john

[aupickup]

i had pattern front cylinders once and they lasted only one year, i have lockheed ones now

[phurn]

Tbd I'm pulling the car to bits end of summer... hopefully, and there's no way 8 inch drums will stop the new engine! So they've only gotta last 6months. I would leave it as is but its my daily so I can ill afford bad brakes! I found an axle set of shoes for £18 delivered. Seems reasonable to me?

[phurn]

in the end i found an axle set of lockheeds for £15 ...thanks to some healthy negotiation =] now... ive gone and lost my haynes... advice for replacing the front cylinders anyone?

[rayofleamington]

brake shoes (and drums, and disks/pads) really should only be replaced as axle sets.. if not and you end up spinning out in an emergency, then you'll have some idea why...
Any brake lining supplier can make a brake material - there are hundreds to choose from. Each lining material has different properties for friction coefficient, wear and temperature degradadion. If you have one worn drum and one new (or disks) then the heat capacity will be different and on critical situations (e.g. braking downhill or from high speed) one will get hotter than the other.

So when you use the brakes 'normally', they may not seem similar from one side to the other but heat the drum differently - then when hot they can behave completely differently putting you in a difficult situation. In worst case they can be very different even when used lightly!

True story: A guy I worked with was using a car where one caliper was a bit sticky - afer 10 miles or so the brake on that side would get hot... The car was booked in to a garage to get fixed 3 or 4 days later (they were waiting for a new caliper to be delivered) but he kept using it. When the car spun and hit an oncoming police car he was very lucky not to hurt anyone and goodness knows how he managed to explain it away!
When the police came to check the car (cold) it stopped normally.

[bmcecosse]

Remove drum and shoes - blank off the filler cap on the master cylinder with a plastic bag stretched across then refit the cap tightly. Then remove the cross pipe between the cylinders - unbolt the cylinders - unscrew from the flex pipe - fit new to flex pipe - bolt cylinders to backplate - refit the cross pipe - remove the plastic bag and fill up the master cylinder - refit shoes and drum - adjust up the shoes - bleed the brakes. Simples !
Before you start - make sure you have spanners that fit all the fixings - in fact - good idea to free off the bolts holding the cylinders before you even start. Same with brake pipes - get them slightly loose, and then nip up again before you start. the job will then go easily without snags.

[rayofleamington]

if the cylinders haven't been off for a long time then more than likely the cross pipe will chew itself up when you try to remove it.
If you have pipe and a flaring kit then it's not so much stress, but if you're trying to do the car in an evening ready for work in the morning then probably best to have a new pipe ready!