Rear Brake Change

[Royston]

I have to change my rear breaks, but am unsure of how to remove the drum. lil help pls.

[petrified.rabbit]

what year do you have? 04-some 05 have a one piece hub drum.. that you take the nut of and pull everything off the spindle. later models have set screw(i think) that you remove to pull the drum off the spindle.

if you knew that and are still having trouble verify the ebrake isnt on.. then you cam try turning the adjuster back until the drum frees up. you if you are just replacing everything and its really really stuck, tap it off with a hammer to break the ridge on the drum formed by the pads and rust..

[serega12]

what year do you have? 04-some 05 have a one piece hub drum.. that you take the nut of and pull everything off the spindle. later models have set screw(i think) that you remove to pull the drum off the spindle.

if you knew that and are still having trouble verify the ebrake isnt on.. then you cam try turning the adjuster back until the drum frees up. you if you are just replacing everything and its really really stuck, tap it off with a hammer to break the ridge on the drum formed by the pads and rust..

A question along the same topic: how often do we have to change those? i'm only at about 30k, but I never look back there (and my HHR is around 60k, so on that one I think I'm closer to having to change them). What are the signs that your rear drum pads need changed? Also, what are the wearable parts back there?

[petrified.rabbit]

brake shoes (pads) and drums are wearable. the springs should be replaced with new when you do it, as well as cleaning the brake dust off the linkage arms etc to check them..

this is debatable but rear brakes don't do much on fwd cars, they don't stop the engine power, or much of the momentum. they really only keep the back of the car behind you.. i can't say when the proper service life expectancy of drums is, its different based on so many factors. i personally plan replacement every other front brake change, sometimes they still look good when i do it, other times i've waited too long...

the aveo is the first car i have owned in a long long time that i have driven enough to change the brakes on (other than when i first buy a used car) that still has drums in the back. but i am changing them to disk anyhow this summer.

[johnygogo]

This is for an 04 Aveo, hope it helps.

1. Release the park brake.
2. Apply the brake pedal at least 10 times.
3. Raise and support the vehicle.
4. Remove the tire and wheel assembly.
5. Remove the lock ring and the caulking nut from the spindle.
6. Pull the drum srtaight off the spindle. The 2 inner wheel bearing races are not secured inside the drum by a ring. Remove spindle.


I tried to remove the drum off a 04 Swift at the junkyard and I never managed to get it off even with a crow bar. I got the other side off pretty easy, I'm sure there must be a trick to it, good luck.