I brought my 99 Civic HX in to the dealer recently because of a noise coming from the rear right wheel. They said the wheel drum was rusting, and bits of rust and/or dirt were getting in there and making the noise, which sounded like something rattling around inside the wheel.

So they replaced the wheel drum, but they said they didn't have any Honda drums in the shop, but could use a generic drum.

I still kept hearing a noise when I applied the brakes and ended up having to bring the car back in 2 more times. Now everything seems fine, but I noticed that the drum (you can see it through the tire rim) is rusty. Should a new wheel drum be rusty??? Could it have just gotten surface rust from sitting around a storage room or something?

Is this an issue?

 

I know sometimes when u get ur rear brakes checked they freeze up, what you gotta do is find a parking lot, backup real quick an slam on the brakes, that will help reset them. Do this a few times. My rear drums are 13 years old and the rust flakes off them, doesnt stop them from getting inspected because I did just what I said here.

 

Rust on the outside of the drum is normal and won't affect the braking performance. New brake shoes should always be installed to match a new drum. Old shoes are going to be worn unevenly to match the grooves in the old drum, and they won't fully engage a new one that is smooth.

Does the hand brake actually work to stop the car? That tests the rear brakes fairly well. When making normal stops with the brake pedal, the front brakes do almost all the work so you can't tell right away if there's a problem with the back.