Drum Brakes for the Dummy Mechanic

A drum brake

One of the adages we live by here at the Antisocial Network is that "If you ask a stupid question, you'll get a stupid answer." That situation's bad enough, we suppose, but it would be even worse to ask a sensible question and still get a stupid answer. If, however, it's a stupid answer you want, we usually suggest that you head on over to eHow.com where totally unqualified journalism, English lit and psychology graduates (and the occasional major) stand ready to answer all of your questions on topics in science and technology. Yeah, that's right: you might well end up with the likes of JanetB, with whom we caught up as she attempted to explain "Why do Front Drum Brakes Pull to the Side?"¹

Some of our younger associates have never seen a car with front drum brakes. The last vehicle with front drums any of our staff can remember owning was an early '60s VW Beetle, though a few other uber-cheap cars from the era were similarly equipped. Almost all cars made since about 1970, however, have front disc brakes; and many have discs on all four wheels. Apparently Janet doesn't know the difference, however, since here's one thing she claims might cause poor brake performance:

"Front drum brakes can pull to one size because the caliper piston or caliper slides are seizing up. If this happens on one side, the brakes on the good side will pull the car in that direction. In this case, you need to replace the caliper piston and brake pads. It's also possible that you have a blockage in the brake line leading to one of your calipers in front."

See what's wrong with that? If you're unfamiliar with autos, as is Janet, you probably didn't know that drum brakes don't have calipers, caliper slides or brake pads: those parts are only found in disc brakes! Janet also munged another possible cause:

Drum Brake Parts

Disc Brake Parts

"If brake fluid leaks from your master cylinder, it will cause a loss of friction in the brake shoes. " We suppose she thinks the leaking fluid makes it all the way from the master cylinder to the inside of the drum... Besides knowing nothing of the hydraulic principle, Janet apparently doesn't know that there are also slave cylinders on the individual wheels. Ahhh, the perils of looking for advice on automotive problems at eHow. At least if you want makeup advice, the lousy job performed by the likes of Janet won't kill you – but if you take her advice on brakes, then it is you, not she, who deserves to be our Dumbass of the Day!

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was    ehow.com/facts_6917334_do-drum-brakes-pull-side_.html

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DD - BRAKES