1988 mercury colony park -Drum brakes-

Hey doods,

So the previous owner had someone work on the brakes of my wagon, the person who had worked on it thought they were smarter than ford's engineers and left 90% OF THE FUCKING SPRINGS OUT OF THE REAR DRUMS. This fucking idiot, left them all out and said "fuck it, it brakes somewhat... good enough."
So, I tried to look on google for a diapragm of the rear drum brake assembly, but my search left me with nothing. I got the kits and are ready to get this shit redone. I need to pass inpection soon..

Wtf was this dude thinking

 

I'm done locking up my wheels and can't afford to buy new tires, let alone gas.

 

That's crazy. The springs are hard to put on but not so hard as to neglect them entirely. they should basically be like most other set ups. This might help. If not I'll pull a wheel off and get some pics for ya. Also you might want to invest in a spring tool from o'smileys or somewhere. Or you can use a long skinny screw driver to pull and slide the springs into place. Be careful! I have a friend who lost his eye playing with springs

 

HF has a brake kit, all three tools. I'm surprised you were even able to stop. You'll need to inspect the fronts because all the braking force was on the fronts. Check for overheated rotors (blueing) and carefully inspect the bearings and spindles, the caliper pistons/seals, and the flex hoses. Then, when all is put back together and you go to test drive it, make sure you give very light pedal pressure to start, or you'll end up knocking your head on something, the car will stop so fast!

 

Yeesh, i got the sensitive foot thing down pretty well. i barely have any braking power until comes 3/4s way down, then the braking pressure builds up like no tomorrow.

 

I feel your brake woes. My booster is going out, it leaks every time I depress the pedal. So loud some passengers mistake the sound for windy flatulency and if it is wet out the front wheels lock up and slide a good bit. Gotta fix that

 

Yup. And just so's ya know, regardless of brake diameter, Ford's drum brakes are pretty much the same through most of the RWD platforms for any given model year. So if you still have your Bronco, it would likely be set up the same.

 

UPDATE: I replaced all the springs and reset every aspect of the drums' innards, also had to get a self aligning kit for one of the rear drums. Yeesh, it has some noticeable increase in pedal feel,but braking split is still the same. (90-80 % front ??? - 10% rear on one fucking drum,)
I tested on gravel and the front wheels lock up. Pedal still reaches to the floor, not much has changed.

Going to split them rears back open and align them.

Maybe I just need to drive it more to allow the aligning bits to do their part...

 

I just want to get this shit over with, I want to just lay down and close my eyes. Let the sensory deprivation take over and soak my essence, into the endless abyss of existence. Forever now I wait for death, time and time again we meet from world to world, death old love. Clinging onto cunts and cocks in a never ending carnival that only burrows deeper into the rabbit hole, death makes angles of us all with wings smooth as raven claws.

 

The next step should be to adjust them with the drums and wheels on. The drums need to just barely drag fully around on each side as you click the star wheel with a Bendix spoon or a short but wide flat-blade screwdriver. The better the adjustment is after redoing the alignment, the better the brake bias. One other thing: if after all is said and done, you may need to replace the proportioning valve.

 

I don't know what a self aligning kit is, but as Andrew said, you need to adjust the drums for them to work properly. If you just threw the parts on and called it a day that is likely your issue.

 

There seem to be a couple of brake threads going on. Remember this tip. The linings on brake shoes are of different lengths. The short shoe is always installed toward the front of the vehicle.

 

"BIG to the back."

 

Okay, so I double checked each drum both smalls in front and both bigs in rear. I'm having a difficult time getting the right adjustment on one drum, the drum it self is warped from some scenario with the previous owner... I basically go 10 clicks away from the shoes having a tight grip, then the grip goes completely, I then adjust accordingly till I feel a light drag. Then I go one click up. I've done this five times today and with this damn drum I keep getting no braking play, to a nice horrid smell from over adjustment..

 

@12ozMouseBoner , my quote has nothing to do with this thread, mainly to get your attention (insert off topic emoji here - I couldn't find one) . I saw your user name when scanning recent posts and just had to tell you that I almost had coffee come out of my mouth when I saw it. I am not sure if I will get the image out of my mind. Not sure if there is a different meaning, but all I can think of is this poor mouse that has a boner the size of a beer can