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K2500 rear brakes

JeffsJeep04

JeffsJeep04

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Location
Eau Claire, WI
The brakes on my truck suck....bad. I know they aren't inherently this bad because I've driven other 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks with the same setup and they felt like they'd throw you through the windshield. I think my issue is that I have a leaking wheel cylinder (one for sure, the backing plate is COVERED in gunk), and it's slicking down the rear drums, leaving me with just front brakes.

Anyway, I can't get a straight answer, I know from experience that the older 14 bolts required taking the hub off to get to the drums, but I hear the 88+ version of the 14 bolt has slide off drums. Can anyone confirm this? That makes this an afternoon project instead of a weekend project and a hernia.):h
 
You can tell just by looking at them if they are slide off or not. Full-floater = not slide off. Semi-floater = slide off. 8 lugs (unless it's a suburban) probably are not the slide off kind.
 
That's just the thing. It's a FF axle, but from some googling, I hear the newer FF axles have slide off drums, but nothing concrete. I guess I'll find out tomorrow for sure.
 
Leaking wheel cylinder=no brakes at all very soon. Most likely bad wheel seal. Hard for brakes to build friction when they are covered in gear oil. Don't wash the shoes and reassemble. Spend the money and put good semi met linings on. Cheap linings=wheel lockup when damp or rainy out.
 
guybb3 said:
You can tell just by looking at them if they are slide off or not. Full-floater = not slide off. Semi-floater = slide off. 8 lugs (unless it's a suburban) probably are not the slide off kind.
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FWIW my 1999 Sub K2500 has full floater AND slide off drums.
 
Acesneights1 said:
Leaking wheel cylinder=no brakes at all very soon. Most likely bad wheel seal. Hard for brakes to build friction when they are covered in gear oil. Don't wash the shoes and reassemble. Spend the money and put good semi met linings on. Cheap linings=wheel lockup when damp or rainy out.
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Oh, most definitely. I'm going to grab two new wheel cylinders and some riveted semi metallics. It's amazing how frustrating it is trying to explain to the counter monkey why I don't want ceramic pads on my 3/4 ton. No offense to parts guys, I used to be one (I'm ASE certified parts and paid my dues as a mechanic in high school). Little embarrassed to say I didn't even think of the wheel seal when noticing the oily gunk on the backing plate...might need to look into that as well.

steelydan said:
FWIW my 1999 Sub K2500 has full floater AND slide off drums.
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Excellent, that lines up with other things I've been seeing. Glad to hear first hand experience.
 
just a number said:
I know stupid question. If the drum just slides off what holds the bearings in place?
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The axle, on SF rear wheel studs are part of the axle flange, drum slips over the same studs like the wheel does, studs pass thru back side of axle flange drum over front side and wheel on top of the drum lug nuts apply torque to all. Axle on diff end is retained by C clip & spider gear cluster, which are retained by bolt.
 
x2 SteelyDan.

FF axle bearings come out with the hub. Which requires taking the axles out and then the hub slide right off. Very easy.
 
The drum has nothing to do with holding the bearings in. I've heard some of the newer full floating axles had drums that slid on (between the hub face and the rim), which makes brake changes much easier, which brings me to my update.

I dug into my rear brakes after some bow hunting this afternoon. I needed to rotate the tires, so I started with that. Got the rears off and the drums do NOT slide off. Mine have them behind the hub, held captive with the wheel studs like the old style. I definitely have a new style housing (heavy ribs along the bottom). I just didn't have time to dig that deep into it tonight, so I finished up rotating the tires and called it a day.

When letting down the front end, my rear jackstands failed on me and the truck ran my foot over (I was laying in front of the truck). Before it got ugly, the parking pawl caught it and it sprung back long enough for me to pull my foot out and get out of the way. Definitely got my heart pumping. Nothing is broken, and I'm surprisingly not all that sore either. Just goes to show, things can go bad very quickly, and nothing is completely secure. I was working on the truck on concrete, but the front tires were out of the shed a bit where it sloped down. It was just too much downward pressure for the jackstands in the back and they tipped. Luckily I had all 4 tires on and snugged up. The way it came off, it's also lucky I had a locker in the back (one side came down before the other), or it probably would have rolled much further.
 
wow man, you are fortunate, its good that you learned a lesson without much more dire consequences, people have been killed by accidents like that. I'm glad to hear you are ok
 
My 83 ran right over top of me long ways parallel with 1/4 yard of salt sand in the back. No broken bones just real bad bruises. Think the snow cushioned it a little. Never play with jammed tranny linkage while truck is on hill. It was turned off and plow down and a blade full of snow infront of it and it actually pushed the snow across the street while it was running me over.
 
Acesneights1 said:
My 83 ran right over top of me long ways parallel with 1/4 yard of salt sand in the back. No broken bones just real bad bruises. Think the snow cushioned it a little. Never play with jammed tranny linkage while truck is on hill. It was turned off and plow down and a blade full of snow infront of it and it actually pushed the snow across the street while it was running me over.
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Sounds like a heck of a plow truck!


*crickets*


;) Glad to hear you got out as lucky as you did.
 
Never play with jammed tranny linkage while truck is on hill.
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Dude! :eek::wow: Sure could have been worse than bruises & busted bones! Congratulations on surviving - Doesn't sound like you had any fun at all running yourself over... I, for one, am glad you're still with us.

Guys & Gals -- NEVER work under any vehicle without chocking at least 1 wheel :nono: - A couple of boards will work in a pinch :wink5:
The other never work under rule is jacks -- Use jackstands! Not a piece of wood, some blocks, a couple of cases of beer, the jack --- JACKSTANDS only.

My next-door neighbor could verify this if a car hadn't fell on him. I went to the store for like 5 minutes and saw him working on the car. Told him that there was a set of stands on my porch. When I got back there were a zillion or so police cars, some fire engines, and an ambulance there. My stands were still right where I left them. It just takes a little fraction of a second for things to go wrong forever.
 
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RadioMan said:
Dude! :eek::wow: Sure could have been worse than bruises & busted bones! Congratulations on surviving - Doesn't sound like you had any fun at all running yourself over... I, for one, am glad you're still with us.

Guys & Gals -- NEVER work under any vehicle without chocking at least 1 wheel :nono: - A couple of boards will work in a pinch :wink5:
The other never work under rule is jacks -- Use jackstands! Not a piece of wood, some blocks, a couple of cases of beer, the jack --- JACKSTANDS only.

My next-door neighbor could verify this if a car hadn't fell on him. I went to the store for like 5 minutes and saw him working on the car. Told him that there was a set of stands on my porch. When I got back there were a zillion or so police cars, some fire engines, and an ambulance there. My stands were still right where I left them. It just takes a little fraction of a second for things to go wrong forever.
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The disclaimer to the other rule is that jackstands don't mean it won't fall on you! I won't work on one end without the other two tires on the ground and chocked now.
 
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