Warped drums

[merlot566jka]

Holy moly!

What causes this? The hub is fine, it's just the drum. I found a leaking wheel cylinder and when I was putting it all back together I noticed the drum was wobbling. I took it back apart and found the inside metal was ground down. There wasn't any metal in the drum... So I assume it's been like this for a while. Explains my pulsing brakes!

Could this happen from flipping the hubs? The bolts that hold on the drum, are they low clearance or is there a specific way that they go on? I didn't think so, but seeing this makes me question things I've done on the truck before!

http://youtu.be/xOBGsILN4uM

 

[cattlerepairman]

Make sure it is indeed the drum itself and not the mounting surface. You can always go to a place that turns truck brake drums and have them check runout on yours.
Has your truck always vibrated that way? The drums are quite massive, but if Soldier A dropped the truck onto the drum(s), they could most certainly warp.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Many folks think that if their truck stops, they don't need to worry about brakes. The fact is, if you don't adjust your brakes once in a while, you might have only one drum doing most of the stopping. That will heat up said drum and warp the sh1t out of it.(not saying this is you, could be "dspo").

I have spare drums if you need one. Lmk.

 

[peashooter]

Did you just flip the hubs recently? That could definitely be part of the problem.

 

[merlot566jka]

I have flipped the hubs twice in the past 2 years.
But I pulled it all back apart last night and checked out the hub to drum bolts. They were right and looked fine. I took them off to check the drum mounting, and it's flush.

I need a new drum, and want to check all my others. I've had a couple instances where I had panic stopped and had smoking brakes. I never thought there would be damage from using the bakes!

Gimpy, you have a PM

 

[rustystud]

If the drums are reaching there wear limit and get hot they can warp. If your using your brakes hard and go through a puddle they can warp. There are a lot of scenarios where you can warp your drums. The best way to prevent warpage is to maintain your brake system. That includes the way that you drive. No fast braking, look ahead to allow plenty of time to brake. Also keep all the brakes adjusted properly. This will prevent one drum doing all the work and heating up. As the TM's say, good PM (preventive maintenance) is the answer to a good running truck.