What's the best way to deal with drum brake.

81 550A2
3500 miles.
Dear drum brake is free but full rusted in the rim and the pads. With only 3500 miles the bearings look great. The grease looks undisturbed. I think I read that using old shoes even if cleaned is a no no. The pads are barely worn. I figure to take brake part cleaner to the drum area. I assume it's fi e underneath. Any input appreciated. R

Pics.
Steve

If their age is unknown, I would install new brake shoes --- oem or Vesrah (made in Japan).
The adhesive that binds the linings to the shoes can fail over time, so a lining can separate from a shoe & get jammed between the shoe & drum, locking the rear wheel. It happened to me when rolling the bike off the center stand in the driveway, so it does happen. It would be a real drag for it to happen at speed & far from home. Mine looked fine but were old old old.

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me pics. R

That can be cleaned up.
Steve

You're right - those bearings look new!

Get new shoes - they're very cheap anyway - and get the drum machined. You can try cleaning and sanding the drum surface, but if there is any pitting or ridges, just get it machined.

Clean it all up and let us see how it looks.
Steve

swest wrote: That can be cleaned up.
Steve

I agree.

Wow, that drum must have filled up with water from the bike sitting outside. I didn't know they did that. At any rate, I'd try cleaning up all the parts and see where you wind up. Use some 100 grit sandpaper on the shoes and see how they look. The drum is of bigger concern. Hopefully the rust pitting isn't too deep.

Good news is that rear brakes aren't overly important so you should be okay to just clean things up really good (take everything apart and then clean properly).

Asbestos warning: do not breathe the dust. Install new brake shoes. OEM or Vesrah.
I wiped everything down first using clean cloths dampened with denatured alcohol & disposed of the used rags after double wrapping them in plastic bags.

To keep from contaminating the bearings, I made hub covers from plastic bottles & taped them in place with duct tape. Even with the hub protectors, I avoided getting any dust, solvents or cleaning agents on the hubs --- in case the tape wasn't impervious to the fluids n stuff.

My rear wheel was in pretty good shape, but the drum was glazed, so I sanded it very evenly & carefully with 100 grit sandpaper. I worked outside with the wheel against a fence, sanding a short section at a time. Note where you start, sand a small area, wipe off the dust with a clean cloth dampened w denatured alcohol, dispose of rag, rotate wheel, do the next section. Common sense dictates that you should do each section closest to the ground --- to minimize dust & to keep from contaminating the bearings.

Well I think it came out well. Also cleaned up the rear sprocket and hub.

Having fun!

R

Id hit the shoes and inside drum with sand paper if you havent already to knock the glaze off of them.