I finished a full brake job a week ago (including hard lines!) and now I'm getting a serious whine from the drivetrain at 20mph+.

The sound is pretty high pitched...similar in frequency and tone to a fire truck siren. Every wheel bearing I've had go bad was a deeper and lower sound. The sound is not effected by turning.

I pulled the drums and everything is in order there. I also put the transfer case in neutral and got the transmission up to speed...no noise.

Any ideas? I'm hoping it's not more serious than a wheel bearing!

Thanks in advance!

 

I did some work tonight and it looks like the passenger side rear drum is dragging.

It's strange because the drum turn freely by hand, but after driving that drum is VERY hot while all other corners are just warm. Also, if apply hard braking or e-brake that corner locks up really early.

All of the rear brake hardware is new and the brakes are adjusted correctly (turn freely by hand).

Any ideas? I found someone who had something similar and it was fixed by smoothing and lubing all of the pad contact points. Seems like a long shot, but I'll try it.

 

Not trying to be a smart ***, but you could pull both drums & compare the rigging of the shoes etc with the other side. If you find anything wrong, you wont be the first guy ! Do the front & rear shoes have identical lining locations ? I don't remember...

Oh yeah...what year is it ????

 

Thanks for the suggestion. It's a 2001 with 9" drums.

I pulled the drums and everything is in order on both sides. Each drum has two different friction material sizes. The larger one goes on the side that's closer to the rear of the car. This is also the shoe that is activated by the e-brake.

I'll tear it down again tomorrow, and try lubing everything up. I'll report back on what fixes it!