2003 Chevrolet S10 : rear brake drums

Wrenching

2003 Chevrolet S10 : rear brake drums

Details of the vehicle:

2003 Chevrolet S10 Extended Cab pickup

Extended cab, 1 swing door on driver side

4.3L V6 engine

4 speed automatic transmission

The Problem:

I was hearing a squealing noise one day while riding in the family S10. A day or so later I pulled the tires to double check the brake pads and shoes.

However, the driver side drum did not want to come loose.

Now usually, I would just stick a screw driver in the slot in the backing plate and try to work the star adjuster in ward so that the shoes would contract inwards and release.

The slots on this backing plate had never been punched out. Hmmmn.

The information below is based on how I was able to fix it.

The Fix:

I got this tidbit from Tx Firefighter and it took care of it…

Woog, I used to work as a mechanic for the Postal Service. Those little square mail trucks called LLVs are on S10 chassis. I’ve seen this a whole bunch of times.

First, make sure to stick a little screwdriver in the backing plate and turn the adjuster star and loosen off the adjustment. If it is still stuck, do this…

Hit it hard in the direction of the arrow on the edge of the drum face. It will not hurt the drum I promise. I did this countless times to stuck drums and never hurt a drum or run across one that this wouldn’t free up enough to pull off.

Thanks Tx Firefighter!

68C15 had this to add, I think it is a good tip, so I include it here:

I used to work on the LLVs also, in Northern Illinois. you can imagine the severity of rust on the drums. I can think of 4 that actually broke doing it that way. I still suggest it though, it works best. I now use a 5lb. lead hammer hitting on the perimeter and the face with amazing success.

Once I had the drums off, I punched out the slots on the backing plates with a hammer and punch. I went to the parts store and bought some of those rubber plugs that fit in there. At least in the future we will have the option of trying to back the adjuster off.

-W

Wrenching