Brake shoe dragging

[hardingfv32-1]

What causes a brake shoe to drag? It comes off the track dragging, but the shoe can be shifted to eliminate the dragging. It does not seem to center itself after applications.

Brian

[DanRemmers]

Rusty or bent hardware, weak retaining springs

[FVartist]

Check your drums for wear, heat checks and out of round, the backing plate if straight and the contact point that the shoe sits on the backing plate is not too worn or has grooved, proper lube where the shoes contacts the adjuster, wheel cylinder and backing plate.

[brian]

Assuming all is ok, it's caused by the irregular wear of the Carbo tech shoes. Since they have such a high coefficient of drag, they don't flex like standard shoes and the shoes wear funny. The shoes will actually shift back and forth when applied. When you apply the shoes gently, like in the pits, they may be offset until you pop the pedal once. I coasted into the pits once, just to check out my theory, and the dragging stopped.

Check the backing plates to make sure the contact places are not grooved and use the tapered adjusters. I use a bit of brake grease on the backing plates and adjusters and it helps. Don't use bearing grease as it can cause grabbing if it gets on the shoes. Lubriplate makes the brake grease I use. I back off the shoes 3 clicks after "all clear" since the Carbtechs seem to swell with heat.

[brian]

OOPS, I forgot to mention to swap the shoes from top to bottom at least every other weekend. Again, due to the lack of flexing, the trailing shoe does a lot less work.