Brake dust

[olddog67]

My car has drums all around. Is it normal to drive say for an hour under normal driving conditions and have all 4 wheels full of brake dust?

 

[Ranger16]

I would say that is not normal with drums.

 

[67 GTX]

How full of dust is full? You'll get some.
But if you cleaned it, drove for an hour, pulled them off again, and they were completely pouring out with dust, that's not right.

How did you set the tightness of the drum? Do you have self-adjusters?

 

[PurpleBeeper]

If you just cleaned the wheels so you can see every bit of dirt, then yes, in my opinion it is normal (assuming it's only moderate brake dust & the brakes seem OK)

 

[olddog67]

Perhaps my wording was wrong. I was speaking of the wheels. I cleaned them, drove around town and back home, was gone about an hour. When I looked the wheels had a pretty good coating of brake dust all over them again.

 

[67 GTX]

Brake dust on your wheels and you have drums? Do you have the adjuster slots open?

 

[olddog67]

Brake dust on your wheels and you have drums? Do you have the adjuster slots open?

Im not sure but will have a look.

 

[67 GTX]

Im not sure but will have a look.

Ya, normally a drum brake car's wheels don't get that dirty.

 

[Fran Blacker]

Are they self adjusters? I haven't dealt with them in years is it possible you have the adjusters on wrong side? Tighten when you drive forward. Don't know if it's possible but putting it out there.

 

[Ranger16]

I can't imagine open adjuster slots allowing brake dust to get to the front of the wheel .
Are you sure it's brake dust?

 

[oldbee]

All 4 whls? I agree w/ranger. What kind of brk shoes? Never saw it myself.

 

[olddog67]

Oh it is definetly brake dust lol.
The adjuster slots have the rubber plug in them as well.

I will get a picture if it will help. And yes I get it on all 4 wheels. Im not sure what type of shoes they are, the PO installed them.

 

[olddog67]

This is the RR wheel. See the dust on the inside of the wheel through the holes? These wheels have a handfull of drives on them

 

[oldbee]

Has to be the type of brk shoes. Weird

 

[khryslerkid]

If the shoes are new there could be some dust. After they wear in a bit it should be less noticeable.

If it keeps up, they might be a cheaper shoe that wears at a faster rate. If that ends up being the case, you'll have to try a better quality shoe. They don't make them with asbestos in them anymore.

There are some quality shoes available, some are even made with ceramic.

 

[dual fours]

Just curious, did you pass a magnet around that wheel dust and see if anything gets picked up?

 

[olddog67]

Just curious, did you pass a magnet around that wheel dust and see if anything gets picked up?

I have not but will take a look shortly. BTW, what would that tell me?

 

[dual fours]

I have not but will take a look shortly. BTW, what would that tell me?

That you are sanding your drums as you drive or anything else made of ferrous metal. Wipe your wheels with one of those antistatic dust rags people use on cars before the paint is laid down. Just a though.

 

[olddog67]

I ran a magnet along the wheel as suggested and nothing stuck to it.
Here is a picture of my RF brake assembly, does it look to installed correctly?

 

[Fran Blacker]

Looked at my service manual looks ok.