I recently rebuilt the rear brake drums on my 96 XJ. I had a leaking wheel cylinder on the passenger side so when I fixed it, I decided to do both rear wheels. Rebuilt included new drums, new wheel cylinders, and new hardware (springs and adjuster screws). I am also in the process of replacing the parking brake.


After rebuilding the driver side rear brake and putting the new drum on, the wheel would not turn freely all the way around. It makes it about three quarters of the way and then wants to stick/rub a little. With a little force, the wheel will complete the rotation, make it about three quarters of the way around again, and repeats the sticking/rubbing. This is causing the drum to heat up when being driven. I gets really hot!


I took the Jeep into an authorized brake mechanic and was told that the rebuilt drum bakes were done correctly. Even with the parking brake removed, it still catches/sticks/rubs.


Any ideas what could be causing the sticking/rubbing? Could this be a bad axle or hub bearing? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

The rub is generally an out of round drum, even new ones will sometimes be a little out, you could take it back for a replacement. If you suspect an axle problem swap the drums and re-try. Put the rear on stands and run it at 40-50MPH for a bit and see if they still heat up. Brakes get really hot in normal use and you may be thinking there's something wrong when there isn't.

 

It needs to go through a little break in period before everything seats in to where it needs to be.

Kind of rubbing the new off of it. Pretty much everything is made in China now. They don't do stuff exactly the way AMC and Chrysler did. That's why it's cheaper.

 

Thanks guys. I swapped the drums and there seems to be no sticking now. Since I removed the diff cover to look at the gears, I will refill it in the morning and run the Jeep and see if it heats up anymore than what it was before. Amazing that you cannot buy parts and expect them to work as they are advertised!