The Dodge Challenger Message Board

Ok so if they turn out to be 11 inches I can order they easy enough yeah- so 11 inch brake pads please yeah.

I might as well take a look at the rears also.


Just a question on adjusting the brakes ,I turned the bar at the base of the drum and they spread I couldnt put the drum back on so it adjusted them so I could just about get them back on- is this the correct way to adjust them?

Thanks guys.

Yes that will work fine mate.
If they drag against the inside of the drum too much the drums will get very hot and the brakes will jam on.
So when you are done with all this just take the car around the block a couple of times and then check that the wheels still turn freely.

Thanks Dave, oh the small amount of fluid that came out should I be worried about that?

Don't let it get on the brake shoe material. If you do use good solvent to completly remove it and clean it from everything else too.

Brake fluid or oil will cause the brake to grab on. You would expect it to "grease" the brakes and make them less effective but in reality it makes them grab on too much and the wheel will lock up.

Should I give the brakes a wet down to take away the dust, Ive been carful not to disturb the dust too much.

I was considering getting new fluid because Ive had the car for 5 years and I dont know when it last had a fluid change so a good idea or not?

Would using sand paper to clean the drums be ok?

Get everything clean and dry. Use sandpaper or coarse wet n dry paper to clean the inside of the drums.

I just brush all the dust off. I have never worried about a mask or anything although you should wear one.

You can buy brake cleaner in aerosol cans to wash all the parts down with.

Ok Dave I will do that ,Im also looking in halfords on line for brake fluid but they only recommend their fluid for disc brakes. Any suggestions? or is there a recommend spec or type?

hey wayne if you take your worn brake shoes to a brake specialist they will be able to bond new pads onto them it should work out cheaper than importing new shoes thats what i did it cost bugger all
cheers ian

I think the freight costs wouldnt be as high to Ireland as they would to Oz so I might just get new ones.

Tell me am I right in saying that you start the bleed of the brakes at the rear and work forward and the last one closest to the MS.

Oh and how many fluid will be enough for the change.

You're right Wayne,,and a couple of cans of Motul DOT 4 should be plenty or 1 big container. Make sure you check out the front and rear shoes there is a primary shoe and a secondary shoe. They are different in length, make sure they go back on the same way, do one side and keep the other side intact for a reference, take your time, a spring tool is handy to compress the little spring and push the slot back in the plate. Or you can use pliers,, but it's sometimes aggravating to find the slit in the slot,,I would also get new wheel cylinders instead of a rebuild kit for the cylinders. They arent that much in cost,,Good Luck

Kool, thanks Eddie, ya know all you guys have been savavge helpful Id be lost without the lot of you!!

Oh how much is a couple 1 or 2 litres??

We get the small 10 Oz. cans over here Wayne or the Big 1 Liter bottle. 1 Liter should be plenty and still have some left over to top them off from time to time..I would get the regular fluid not Silicone unless you want to flush the whole system out. Then re-fill with the silicone

Ok bought a bleeder kit and brake cleaner and new universal fluid, The nipple fastners thread were rung- I need new ones.

Check these out.

http://www.pawengineparts.com/shoppingc ... ?catid=882

Here are the pics of the rear right drum- the set up was different I expected to see the same as the front so I was a bit put off as I didnt know how to remove this- in the end I figured it out- but why is it so simple to remove the drum on the rear and not so in the front.

I just tapped it off out past the central hub thingy, oh incidentally how do you take off the central hub- do you need a type of tool for that?

I mananged to clean and bleed this one - the two pot in the master cylinder were full-ish, I topped them up and put on the bleeder kit(nice piece of kit actually), I opened the nipple a half turn and started to pump the brakes- I checked it and it was flowing- I checked the MS pots and the front pot was starting to drop so I topped it off again. and repeated until all of the air was gone and it ran clear, topped off the pot again. I re-tightened the nipple and placed the drum and wheel back on.

I ran out of time so I had to clean up and leave- I did notice the the colour difference between the front pot-clear and blue and the rear pot- very cloudy brown.

I will do the rear left today and the two fronts- weather permitting.

The brakes have to be different front and rear if you think about it.

That "central hub thingy" is the end of the axle shaft for that side. Yes it needs a puller to remove it (after the nuts holding it in are removed) and if you did remove it you would find it is a long shaft that goes right into the diff in the center of the axle.

Brake fluid should be clean and clear. Brown is a sign of rust and corrosion and usually also means leaky wheel cylinders or if in the master cylinder reservoir would probably indicate a buggered master cylinder.

Yes I kinda thought that would need so sort of specific tool so I left it be.

Dave if it is a case of a bad MS do you think any of these would do as a replacement, now I know it says the new MS is for front discs and rear drums but can you explain why that is, why would it work on discs but not drum all round brakes?

Here are some pics, Both of MS are much larger that the current one on the 70.

Also pics of the MS and PB from the 72.

I have got one that might be OK for you mate. It has rusted a bit on the outside but if it is OK on the inside you can have it. I will check it out tonight.

Nope. My old drum brake one is no good either. Rusty inside the bore. Shame because it was brand new when I bought the car in 1989.

The "correct" master cylinder for your car should have two equal sized resivoirs for the fluid. The ones you have photos of there are for disc brakes. But one of those would work just as well if you don't have a choice.

there are for disc brakes,perhaps a front disc conversion ,if possible

This is my current MS.

So guys why is it not possible to use it is it because both pots need to be of equal size?

Mate. I already said it don't really matter if you use one with equal size resivoirs or not. It only matters if you have disc brakes because then you need one bigger than the other.

You don't know for sure if this existing one is knackered or not. So take it off the car, remove the circlip you will find on the back end of it, and remove the piston and spring you will find inside.

Then clean the piston bore up and inspect it for pitting on the inner surface where the piston has to seal against.

No pitting where the piston seals and you are OK. Pitting elsewhere you can get away with.

Same with the wheel cylinders. Take them apart, clean and inspect them.

That fluid you have in there HAS to ALL come out. It has absorbed water and is rusting the system from the inside out.

I am sorry wayne. I should be talking you through this step by step but I am so busy at the moment I can't look after you properly.

Here is my rusty master cylinder. A bit of air from a compressor into one of the MC outlets always shoots the piston out if it is refusing to just pop out by itself.

Hey no worries Dave I understand mate.

As always you have been more than helpful.

Here is some more pics of the rear left.

I finished up with the front two drums, now I did note the the two front nipple were bigger (easy guys, especially you Eddie ) than the two at the rear, they were also missing the rubber covers. I found the access to the front one a lot more akward than the back one- but I got it in the end.

When I was pumping the brakes on the front two it was alot more difficult as the pedal seemed much firmer than before.

I topped up the MS pots for the last time cleaned the rubber and MS cover and placed it back on.

At this stage it started to piss rain so I had to pack it in for the night.

I started the car and stuck her in reverse to put her back in the garden, I had to take it easy to back up to the wall but when I stepped on the brakes she stop dead like on a penny.

The brakes seem much tighter than before, I will go back over tomorrow to have a go a round the block but so far so good.

Oh and before I finished I spun each wheel and got one revolution before the wheels stopped so thats good I think.

I will take off the MS and do as you suggest Dave, I just hope it dont rain, funny that every time I go to work on the car it pisses rain!!

Sounds like you are slowly getting there mate.

Of course it is raining. It is Ireland.

Oi! And were is me burnout video? That is more important than bloody brakes.

One thing I noticed guys was that one of the rear drums was missing a weight, I know its there for balancing but what are the consequences if these are not present on the drums?

How do you know it is missing? Is there a visible mark where it should be?

If there should be a weight there that wheel might vibrate a bit. It is not as big an issue on a rear wheel as on a front wheel though.

I phoned advanced pitstop to see it I could source new bleeder nipples because the existing ones are rung and badly corroded and the guy there he reckoned he could source them so I might bring one of the front and rear down to him to size them up, so I guess I will have to bleed the system again if I take out the nipples to do this!!

You could clamp the flexy hose to limit how much you loose. If the master cylinder runs dry you might have to bench bleed that.

Ok I can do that, Dave tell me what does bench bleed mean.