rear brake problem?

[L33 LEG]

the other day i was just driving along slowly and i heard a bang from my rear wheel, the drive wasnt affected at all but i stopped to check it out and nothing was obvious. something around the wheel banged a few times so i jacked the car up to check if all the wheels were on fine and was all ok. the noise kept getting worse tho, sounded like something was loose inside the drum and was banging about so that night at work i took it all off and looked inside the drum, with me not being a mechanic or know what i was doing i didnt see anything wrong with it.

so i put everything back together and the banging had stopped, not sure why but it had done. yesterday the noise started again and got really bad, sounded like something was scraping my tyre cos it was making that squeaking sound and then u could hear metal hit eachother, thought maybe something had come off my car and is hitting the wheel, but then the rear brakes were sticking, everytime the wheel did a full turn it made a scraping sound and now it sounds bad :wtf: like the brakes are half on, my wheels is COVERED in red/pink/black dust, obviously coming from my badly painted red drums and whilst im at junctions i dont need a handbrake or press my brake Lol.

im going to have another look at it after work tonight, but what do you think has happened? will the shoes be catching on something? what would the loud bangs had been?

any help appreciated :(

[meritlover]

perhaps Mr Leg, your spring retaining clips on the rear shoes have become so badly rottened that the cap has made its self release and the spring has beecome lost. this will cause the shoes to lift from the back plane and catch on the drums causing them to snap on. this may be the problem...but it also could not be the problem. you will have to have much investigation into this problem before the brakes come on in the middel of a cornering and will cause you to have the effectiveness of a handbrake turn in the corner!!

or maybe perhaps you have an ill made poorly designed super back box system that is resting on the axel and tugging on the handbrake cable causing the bang and the brakes to come on effectively.

[L33 LEG]

the back box is standard, so yes it will be a poorly designed super dooper one. i did think that maybe something is banging away and now it has got so loose that its resting along the cable which is causing it to be stuck on.

im no mechanic but always like to do things myself, but im lost with brakes Lol :( i think il get my mate to look at it after work tonight cos he knows what hes doing, just thought you guys could maybe help and give some ideas and il pass them onto him. cos by looking at it all, nothing is standing out to be the obvious problem.

[stevenf]

might be the wheel bearings. had the same problem with mine(mines collapsed and locked the wheel up at speed. just managed to keep it on the road). it started off as a droning noise then progressed from there. jack the back end up with the hand brake off and see if there is any play in any of the wheels. :)

[craig green]

Could the pink deposits of red drum paint be over heated paint?

I had a cylinder fail with a bang once, whilst performing a hand brake manouvre.

[L33 LEG]

it was the bearing. the wheels didnt wobble at all tho,will that be because it was the inner bearing that had shattered?

that bearing has gone twice for me within 4/5 months and the same side went just before i bought the car in august. what will be causing it? the other side went the other month aswell lol :(

[meritlover]

oh Mr Leg i am glad you have found the source of your dissappointment!! perhaps there is too much torque force on your hub nuts. or perhaps there is not enough of a grease?
the nuts should only be just and so over hand tight and it should be backed up (not tightened) to find the nearest hole for the castleated nut and pin!

there are many a wheel bearing owner destroys taper bearings by not trusting a not so tight nut!! and over tightening the nut to harm the bearing. much heat is generated if this is the case!!
a bearing should last you much amount of years/miles if it is installated correct. also do not score scratch the face of the outer race. this will lead to haeavy pitting of the bearing and soon failure to follow!!
also do not perform handbrake turns on your bearings as this causes big axial loads on poor bearing. they are designed for radial forces of the cars weight and only slight loads with cornering manoovers.

thank you.

[craig green]

Agree on the bearing issue. There is a Nova specific procedure to torquing them up to seat the races but the final adjustment is barely hand tight.

Consult the HAYNES word for word.

[L33 LEG]

i do tend to leave the nut quite loose, however my mate tightened it up last night and i said that it maybe too tight, i think il slacken it off a bit tonight Lol.

and i never handbrake turn, in fact i never even park with the handbrake on. however, i am down 80mm at the back with standard rear shocks, have some crappy gmax ones tho spare so will put them on, that may help a little ye? and im aware that the grease will be an issue, i dont use centre caps and i jetwash my car about 5 times a week so in future im going to make sure i dont wash all the grease off.

thanks for the replies tho guys, hopefully this bearing will last much longer :)

[meritlover]

the drop of the suspension will not change the bearings as the axle beam is straight and pivots from the front. you must use the grease caps as when the brakes get warmth, the grease turns to soft and runs out. and also grits are entrained in bearings.
now that the bearings have bedded in you can re torque the nut.

[L33 LEG]

apart from having caps on, is there another way to stop the grease coming out and **** getting in there? doubt there is but u never know :(

[meritlover]

why have you got issues with using the caps???

[L33 LEG]

cos they look cr4p lol and i think iv only 3 anyway.

but obviously, if it means im needing to chage my bearing every other month, then its something im going to have to use them :)

[meritlover]

they were there for a reason did it not cross your minds?
most of the times you can only sees them when the steelies are on. the alloys are normally coving the hubs.

plesae use the covers please.

[L33 LEG]

i will do, il have a look for them tonight :)

[stevenf]

wider wheels can also cause wear on the wheel bearings :)

[meritlover]

yes this is the truth but much wider wheels are not often fitted to a nova because of the clearence. the width of the wheel is not much of the problem its the offset. but again. this is not easy to change severly on the back of a nova without lots of work to arches and movement of the shockabsorber.