How to Inspect Your Brakes Properly

A few things to check out before hitting the road: Check the brake shoe lining, this is easier on trailers because most trucks have dust shields.

First, make sure the brake lining is thicker than 1/4″ and that there are no cracks or separation from the table. Use a flashlight and look up inside near the cam, sometimes the return spring will be missing and if it is the rollers will follow in time and when they go under brake application the shoe can be pushed sideways and bent, causing wheel lockup, drum damage, spider damage, and of course downtime.

Next, inspect the brake drums, if you can place a nickel on the drum surface and it is level with the outer edge, it may be time to replace the drums. Check for excessive cutting from gravel and rocks, if you feel the ribs easily, and you can feel a lip on the edge, you may have to remove the brake drum and gauge it for wear and probably replace the drum.

Next check for heat cracks and inspect the outer edge of the drum for cracks, this is important for outboard drums, many drums are difficult to remove, and get a BFH taken to em, which leads to a fracture or a break. Some cracks can go undetected and may let the drum come apart going down the road, this is a real mess when this happens.

When you remove your drums and shoes inspect the s-cam bushings to see if they have movement, if so pull them down and inspect the cam, replace the bushings and cam if needed, cams are inexpensive, without the cam being tight your shoes will wear funny, often the bottom shoe will wear out faster than the top and from left to right the inside will wear out faster, this makes for poor braking. The shoe depends on those springs to pull em back to rest, if the springs are stretched or weak it will allow the shoe to rub on the drum, taking the life out of the shoe and the drum and causing the wheel to heat up.

Some older brake systems had type 24 cans and mixing 24’s with today’s common type 30, results in bad braking, make sure you’re installing the right one. Also if the can is old enough it will have a removable band on the emergency side, DO NOT REMOVE! Serious injury or death could occur – unless you are trained in brake can service, I would not try to service an emergency brake can. Well, that covers some of the things to look for when doing a brake inspection.