How to change drum brakes

In this video I will be showing you how to properly and safely change your drum brakes. I will teach you everything from all of the tools and supplies you will need, what all of the parts are called, how they work, how to adjust your brakes, and how to test your brakes.
Plus I will be teaching you in such a way that all of this information will stick even better for the long term. Don't worry if my drum brake set up isn't exactly like yours, you will still be able to figure out yours based off of the information, tips, and tricks that I will show you. This is not a quick how to just put the parts on video, it is an in depth instructional video that WILL make you feel more confident in your ability to master drum brakes. Stick it out to the end and you'll be glad you did! This can be a big expensive job so why not try to do it yourself and save money/become a gearhead!
This is another episode of a new series on how to become a GEARHEAD! If you have ever wondered how people know so much about cars and are absolutely crazy about anything with a motor, then this is a great series for you. This is geared towards people that have no knowledge of cars but want to learn; however, the content in my videos does try to make solid connections between theory and practical applications so even seasoned gearheads will find the info useful. Tired of paying other people money to fix your car? Then ya gotta learn this stuff!
Are you loving the Gearhead series? Share with your friends and get them interested in wrenching on cars and saving money.....it's never been easier! Think I'm doing a crazy good job and want to help fund my next cool project or help support the purchase of some new filming gear? Check out my Patreon where you can support the channel.
/ wayofthewrench
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These links will take you to the parts I used in this video/filming gear and help support my channel! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
Brake spring pliers amzn.to/4biPjSd
Silicone grease amzn.to/4bgvBGu
Drum brake hold down spring tool amzn.to/3HMFXAE
Wood mallet amzn.to/4blLU4Z
Wire brush set amzn.to/42p3QHU
Brake cleaner amzn.to/3w5fw6A
Vice grip locking pliers amzn.to/42p4eGm
Anti seize amzn.to/3w1jgWL
Drum brake measuring caliper amzn.to/49gpkc2
Screwdriver set amzn.to/48Y5ZfX
Filming gear:
Canon M50 camera amzn.to/3x53c3v
Canon M50 AC adapter amzn.to/3JTaMpe
Canon lens filters/protective covers amzn.to/3HO6fBQ
Rode Wireless Go 2 amzn.to/46eIzl2
Smart Phone tripod with cold shoe mount amzn.to/3RSQUEP
If you have any questions about the video, please feel free to comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Time me....
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Very special thanks to Guillermo Vargas for all of his work on the new "How to Become a Gearhead" intro. Thanks bruh! It looks amazing. If you are looking for some custom advertising or graphic design of your own, hit him up on his Instagram Guillermo Zevallos Vargas or his website www.vargasportfolio.com/
Music for this very special episode by :
Music To Wear Fingerless Gloves To by Punch Deck
punchdeck.bandcamp.com
Promoted by @RoyaltyFreePlanet - royaltyfreeplanet.com
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Outro music is Sythwave E
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBxnY...
Disclaimer: These videos are intended for entertainment and inspiration. Working in a woodshop, metalshop, or autoshop is dangerous without proper safety and experience. Always seek professional advice and training before using any power tools/machinery. If you have any uncertainty before performing any shop procedure, stop and learn a safe method/technique. Do not attempt anything simply because you saw it in one of my videos. Be smart, use common sense, respect your power tools/machines, and be safe.

[@kirksnyder6190]

This is, by far, the best instruction video I have seen regarding drum brakes. Really appreciate how you taught this maintenance and repair.

[@wayofthewrench]

Thank you very much! I work very hard to make the best content for my subscribers so it's always nice to hear from you guys! If you deem me worthy, I'd really appreciate it if you could share out my channel on your social media so I can help more people. Thanks for the watch and welcome to the channel!

[@rossmcd3703]

When I was in college, I did the rear drums on an '87 Honda Crx using only a set of pliers and a swiss army knife. However, watching Emile perform the same task using the proper tools seems to work much better, and faster. By about 10 hours. And no blood was shed either.

[@wayofthewrench]

Sweet! See how memorable that was! Man I could MacGyver up a pretty wicked drum brake tool out of a plier. Thanks for the watch!

[@DogMad1200]

WELL DONE Bro, I thought I was in heaven while in auto shop, still drive a '64 Merc with 4 wheel manual drum brakes, redid ENTIRE brake system with a new DUAL master, copper nickle lines

[@wayofthewrench]

Thanks Bruh! Yeah me too, I took every tech ed course I could in high school.....some even double blocks. I have a 67 parisienne and a 68 firebird personally and on the firebird I did the front power disk brake conversion.....best money ever spent. Thanks for the watch and welcome to the channel!

[@ToeINnOUT]

This video is worth watching.

[@wayofthewrench]

Thanks, I poured my wisdom into this one for ya guys. If you deem me worthy, I'd really appreciate it if you could share out my channel on your social media so I can help more people. Thanks for the watch and your support for the channel! Cheers!

[@anomalous9448]

Good explanation on the correct placement of the star wheel adjuster.

[@wayofthewrench]

Yeah it's all the little things that screw people up and what makes an experienced tradesperson worth their weight in gold. Glad you enjoyed the video. If you deem me worthy, I'd really appreciate it if you could share out my channel on your social media so I can help more people. Thanks for the watch and welcome to the channel!

[@anomalous9448]

@@wayofthewrench one other thing I ran into was my drum would not fit over the new brake shoes. My first thought was I got the wrong shoes but that was not it. What I ended up doing was to open the brake fluid valve to allow air in and less pressure. This allowed me to pull the shoes together and the drum fit. Of course then the dreaded bleeding. All ended up well.

[@wayofthewrench]

Perfect, glad you got it figured out.

[@RW-ds4dj]

Great video, 9/10 score. You mentioned pulsating brakes,,,, known phenomenon for these cars (my k1500, 96- 6.5TD, 4wd, 13" drum). I mean to have found out that if you flush with clean water into the drum (from the inside gap) from the top and around you can get a lot of brake dust out. If this brake dust stays in the drum (between the brake shoes and the drum) this could cause uneven braking force inside the then drum, take a short spin and brake a little to remove the water inside the drum, because this cast iron will rust very quickly and give less gap and also pulsating brakes.I also see that some lube is used on the 6 contact surfaces for the brake shoes,,, smart ,,, but I also think, if the lube eventually attracts dust if in the long run can make the friction worse? And when use the parkingbreake on in moist areas, perhaps do not do that, the breakshoes can get stuck in the drum.

[@wayofthewrench]

Thank you very much! If you deem me worthy I'd really appreciate it if you could share out my channel on your social media so I can help more people. Yeah that could be, lots of different vehicle designs have their own quirks. As for the lube, it is required but only a little bit and with regular inspections the dust build up is minimal. Thanks for the watch and your support for the channel!

[@VictorMTaveras]

School is in session. Thanks for this vid bro 👍👍 btw 14:30 lol that's a good teacher

[@wayofthewrench]

Sure is! Yeah Mr Likey was a great teacher and I try very hard to be the best I can too. Hopefully I earned your subscription today and have signed up for future "classes". Thanks for the watch and welcome to the channel!

[@andrej.konyshev7611]

Thanks, for great teaching!

[@wayofthewrench]

Glad you enjoyed the video and my teaching style! If you deem me worthy, I'd really appreciate it if you could share out my channel on your social media so I can help more people. Thanks for the watch and welcome to the channel! Cheers!

[@audimechanic]

I paid my way through college changing tires. They let me start working on Brakes so that I could earn more money.... Yet, they only let me do drums.... When said and done I was faster at Drums than any other brake job... I love your videos and if I had that kind of instruction back in the day. It wouldn't have taken me so long to get through college. I truly embrace your content and this is the reason the internet exists... [I also own a vpin machine so, I'm not being bias'ed] Keep up all the great content. 100% we need more people like you.

[@wayofthewrench]

That's awesome! Thanks for the story. I heard something the other day about someone asking how the other person knew so much about fixing stuff. The other guy said....." I was poor and had no choice but to learn how to do it.". Lol.....I was poor too. Hell, I still feel poor...lol. thanks for the comment and if you deem me worthy, I'd really appreciate it if you could share out my channel on your social media so I can help more people. It's crazy hard to be seen in a sea of KZbin content out there. Thanks for the watch and your support for the channel. Cheers!

[@2847mark]

You cracked me up with this one, you are awsome!

[@wayofthewrench]

Lol, glad you enjoyed the video, if you deem me worthy I'd really appreciate it if you could share out my channel on your social media so I can help more people. Thanks for the watch and welcome to the channel!

[@palsh]

I remember being extremely confused by this when I did automotive back in 2004-06. I wish I had this kind of explanation and I might have actually gotten my own brakes done on my old '94 cavalier! Thanks for this, none of my vehicles have drum brakes but I can apply it to the parking brake on my pickup project!

[@wayofthewrench]

Hey ya never know, I fix drum brakes all the time these days. Older cars, trailers, muscle cars....you name it. Glad you liked the video and my teaching style. If you dem me worthy, I'd really appreciate it if you could share out my channel on your social media so I can help more people. Thanks for the watch and welcome to the channel!

[@technofeeliak]

Good job teach.

[@wayofthewrench]

Thank you! 😃. Glad ya liked it! Cheers!

[@cheo196567]

Thank you Sir good job

[@wayofthewrench]

You're very welcome, glad you enjoyed the video! If you deem me worthy, I'd really appreciate it if you could share out my channel on your social media so I can help more people. Thanks for the watch and welcome to the channel!

[@BrianDevelopment]

Great information!!!

[@wayofthewrench]

Glad you enjoyed the video and my teaching style! If you deem me worthy, I'd really appreciate it if you could share out my channel on your social media so I can help more people. Thanks for the watch and welcome to the channel! Cheers!

[@BrianDevelopment]

@@wayofthewrench thank you for your time and response

[@buttonshop101]

This is so amazing and helped me get setup to change some German trailer drum brakes. Only problem I'm having is that the lower return spring gets installed on the inside of the shoes. Any idea how to get it on? I'm a bit desperate

[@wayofthewrench]

Awesome, glad you liked the video! You can put the lower spring on from the back with it off and then put the shoes on to the back plate. Should be easy. Thanks for the watch and welcome to the channel!

[@jetta61]

Thank you for sharing your valuable knowledge with the rest of the world! I have a 2017 Tacoma with front caliper and rear drum brakes. As a personal challenge to myself, I have decided to change my all four brakes. I also plan on doing a complete flush of my brake line with new fluids. When in the brake replacement job, should I do the flush?

[@wayofthewrench]

You're very welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed the video and appreciate the comment! I would do the brake flush after all of the brakes are done but technically you can do it before too. Just don't do it during or else you'll push out your pistons and make a mess. Thanks for the watch and welcome to the channel!

[@WeBuildStuff]

Woah!!! Put the brakes on and slow down there buddy! I need to bang on a steel drum to keep up with this one! Seriously though... I love your practice station setup. Fantastic learning tool!

[@wayofthewrench]

Thanks Bruh! Yeah it's a great set up for teaching students because they can race to see who finished faster. Thanks for the watch!

[@kieranforde]

Loved the shoutout to your old highschool teacher at 13:50

[@wayofthewrench]

Yeah John Liket was a major reason why I got into the trades and eventually became an Automotive teacher just like him. He was a stand up guy in a time where I was going through a hard time. Thanks for the watch and welcome to the channel! Cheers!

[@kieranforde]

I work with the TTED teachers at UBC. One of the things I have them do early on is to draft/write a letter to a teacher who inspired them. Afterwards, I invite anyone who would wishes to share and tell us about the teacher. It’s a great activity to get us thinking about what “good teaching” is (and what it is not). These inspirational teachers reminds us that “Teaching is a dual act of intelligence and empathy" (Shulman, 1997, Professing the liberal arts), something that can lead to a helpful class discussion.

[@wayofthewrench]

That's a great assignment! It really connects them with the idea of why are they going into teaching..... it's not for the money. Cheers!

[@milanjurica898]

it looks so easy. but it was very hard when i did it long time ago

[@wayofthewrench]

I've been doing these for so long now, I make it look easy. It just takes experience and a good teacher to build confidence with these jobs. Thanks for the watch!

[@joesedlacek7552]

Any possible way to show brake bleeding and how to loosen stuck bleeder screws on drum and calipers?

[@wayofthewrench]

Yes these are coming so keep an eye out for them. Thanks for the watch and your support for the channel! Cheers!

[@Rein_Ciarfella]

Emile, an unrelated question, if you don’t mind. Today I was burning out the carbon from a chainsaw muffler and spark arrestor and I thought of you because I figured you’d probably know the answer to this. Where is the hottest part of the flame on a propane torch? I’ve played around with this every time I do this, but still haven’t come to any conclusion. Is it the very tip, which is difficult to see, or is it at the top of the blue base of the flame? Or somewhere else?

[@wayofthewrench]

It should be the tip of the inner cone of flame. Happy burning!

[@Rein_Ciarfella]

@@wayofthewrench Thank you very much for answering my question. 🔧👍

[@wayofthewrench]

You're very welcome!

[@captainotto]

It's a shame that drum brakes aren't more common. If you like to keep your wheels clean and shiny, drums make it easy. Also they are themselves much cleaner and drier than calipers and discs. That said, I haven't seen a set of front drums in ages, only rears. Maybe they get really gross.

[@wayofthewrench]

Yeah they grab really well but suffer from brake fade on long descents and come out of adjustment from left to right on the front which causes wicked pulls to the side.....ask me how I know. Lol. Thanks for the watch and welcome to the channel! If you deem me worthy, I'd really appreciate it if you could share out my channel on your social media so I can help more people. Cheers!

[@captainotto]

@@wayofthewrench I’ve heard of fade being an issue but not uneven grip. That sounds like a great way to roll a car or truck. I guess I’d rather have the brake dust problem!

[@wayofthewrench]

It's rare but can happen. Cheers!

[@robertpaul8455]

"Promo sm" 😂

[@wayofthewrench]

Soooo much....lol