QuestionHi Steve,
Well, after a couple weeks of driving this, and about 700 miles, I still can smell the brakes on one wheel only after I have been driving it. It does appear to be coming from the shoes because I can smell it stronger when I stick my nose inside of the wheel well so its coming from the back side of the wheel. The smell on the other side went away. There is a very slight squeal sometimes when I brake too, but I will need someone to listen to where it is coming from. I was gonna take it off tomorrow and look at it, but what can I really do since I had the shoe adjusted as loose as it will go? Thanks.
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Followup To
Question -
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your reply. I just went out and drove it 12 miles, and I was a little harder on it. I rode the brakes a few times, and then I braked hard several times from 50mph to about 10. When I got finished, I went back to the wheels and I could smell them, but it was just smoking a little bit. You had to get down there to see the smoke, while the first time I drove it you could see the smoke with no problem! I can't tell for sure if its coming from the pads or shoes or both, but it kinda looks like it might be from the shoes because the smoke looks like it is drifting up from underneath instead of just coming off of the rotor surface. I can't back off the adjuster on the shoes any because it is already as loose as it goes. So does this sound like everything is ok? Will it eventually just stop smoking and if the shoes are dragging a little bit, will they eventually just wear down to where they arent dragging? Will this hurt anything? Thank you again.
Dan
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Followup To
Question -
Hello,
I have a 2000 Tahoe with disc brakes on all 4 wheels but with also shoes in the back for the parking brake. I just replaced the brake pads, rotors, and parking brake shoes on the rear. I did this because my parking brake wasn't holding and when taking it apart, one of the shoes was evenly worn a little bit, but the other shoe was was completely worn down on half of it. So I also replaced the pads while it was off because there was probably 25% or so. I loosened the adjuster on the parking brake shoe as loose as it would go, and I was able to slip the rotor over it. It was a little tight, but I didnt have to pound it on or anything. After I got the pads on too, I tried turning the wheels, and there was a little resistence, but I was able to turn them alright. It seemed fine. So after driving around the block a few times, they seemed to work ok, then I went on about a 5 mile trip. When I got there, both wheels were smoking. After a couple hours I made the return trip home, and when I got home they weren't smoking, but after paying close attention, it did feel like there was a little drag while I was driving (unless I was just paranoid and it was just in my mind!). Before I go taking it apart again, I just wanted to know if there is anything I could have done wrong. I dont know if it was the pads or the parking brake shoes that may have been the ones dragging. How can you tell if a caliper is sticking? Well, if you have any advice for me before I take it apart again I'd appreciate it. Or do you think I should just drive it around a little more to see if it smokes again? Thank you in advance.
Answer -
From what you have described I wouldnt worry, it is NOT uncommon for that to happen when you replace the rotors, more than likely what you saw was the oil they coat the rotors with burning off when you 1st drove the truck, if a caliper was sticking the vehicle would pull to one side each time the brake was depressed so this should not be the case as you didnt make mention of this, drive it around some more, I would bet you wont see any more smoke and the vehicle will drive fine, worst case scenerio if you feel uncomfortabloe back off on the E brake adjusters a few clicks , hope this helps and good luck
Steve
Answer -
You really dont want to be super heating the brakes by riding the brake or doing several hard stops, doing so can warp the rotors, glaze the pads and shoes and if this happens they will squeak until the day you change them, new brakes have a break in period and should be driven "gently" for the 1st 50-100 miles to allow them to seat properly with the new rotors and such, after driving them that hard you are going to smell them because they were overheated and are actually burning ,after driving like that to smell them is normal, my advice would be not to do that again and just drive normally, they should be just fine, as for drag on the rear brakes, you should be able to spin the rear wheels by hand, but when you release the wheel they should come to a stop on there own after another revolution , they should not free spin with no resistance, resistance is critical to the proper adjustment of the emergency brake. I hope this helps and good luck
Steve
AnswerTake a good look at the brakes in question and see if they are glazed or cracked, this happens from overheating the brakes, especially when they are new, if they have a shiny glaze to them use some sandpaper to sand them down just enough to remove the glaze on them, brakes will always give off some sort of an odor when they heat up, so unles this is a severe smell I wouldnt worry
