Hi,

I have a 1997 Civic, with over 200K on it. After all the rain we've been getting in the Northeast, the rear driver's side wheel locked up on me. I jacked the car, took off the tire, and the sprayed the heck all over the drum with WD40. I put the tire back on and the wheel worked fine.
Will this happen again? How can I get the drum off to lubricate inside it? There are no screws or bolts to remove. It's a mystery to me!
Thanks for any advice,

Jack
Cummington, MA

 

Lubricating inside of the DRUM??? Are you outa your mind??? Why the hell would you grease your brakes?????? It sounds like a siezing bearing to me...but c'mon...putting lube on your brakes ain't cool

 

Ok. Take the wheel off again. Make sure the parking brake is off. The drum should just pull straight off. If it doesn't come off, there are two threaded holes in the face of the drum, find two bolts that fit in there and tighten them equally. That should force the drum away from the hub. Spray the whole thing out with brake cleaner (to get rid of the wd-40). I don't know if you can lubricate the spring mechanisms in there? maybe. I'll let someone else answer that part

 

I don't think you're supposed to lubricate anything inside your brake drum, not even the mechanism. This is so that there's no chance of any oil or grease getting to your drum's surface or on the brake shoes.

Please keep the WD40 and any other lubricating stuff away from your brakes! You only do that if you wanna kill someone, and especially not to your own car.

 

Are you getting any kind of grinding noises or vibration from that corner when you're driving?

 

Okay. jack up rear of car. Chances are the drums wont just come off. So u need 2 8MM Bolts. Screw them into those 2 holes and the drum will eventually pop off. Get some Brake cleaner (The spray stuff) and just spray that all over the brake stuff inside the drum. Make sure u do this with a bucket under it cuz lots of nasty stuff will drip off. The brakes are now clean and perfect. If the wheel still locks then its bcuz a Hub bearing. Its an easy fix. Definetly a DIY.

 

Doesn't the rear brakes have the ebrake attached? If so, that brake drum isn't comin off if the ebrake is on like you told him to do.

 

lol holy crap, i didnt realize that. Im just so used to sayin "Pull up the ebrake" everytime u jack up the car. LOL put it in PARK or put blocks by the front tires. Thanks Ngot8er.

 

I'm definitely gonna log this one! First time he never flamed me......lol.

 

Thank you all for your help. BTW, I didn't mean to get in there and lubricate the brakes! I meant to get in there and clean 'em off.
I'll try the suggestions. This morning the wheel was fine and didn't lock up.

Jack