jeepwm69 7,719 Posted August 20, 2020 On my own Hondas I long ago gave up on keeping the rear brakes working. They last a month or two, then go right back to issues. That said, when I fix up a bike to sell, I want everything right on it. The 08 Foreman I'm currently working on I replaced both the hand and foot brake cables with new. I tore the rear brake assembly down, cleaned everything well, and put it back together. Rear brake cam was replaced with new, and pivots easily. New seal and felt. OEM pads still had lots of material left so I was going to reuse them. I slid the drum on, attached the cam arm where the shoes firmly pressed against the inside of the drum with very little movement, and a squeeze of the hand brake was nice and firm like it should be, while allowing the wheel to roll when it was released (rear end up on jackstands). Great, right? Not so fast. Ride it across the yard to work on it closer to the house (within range of the baby monitor) and all of the sudden the lever is mush again. Go back to the adjustment nuts and the cam lever will now pivot much further forward that it did before, and doesn't feel like the shoes are even contacting the drum. Only way I can see this happening is if the drum and shoes are worn to the point of the cam being able to pivot 45 degrees and the shoes still not be firmly pressed against the drum. When I had the firm handle maybe the shoes were contacting a high spot on the inside of the drum? Guess I can try some new brake shoes. I've noticed that all the aftermarket shoes I get (even good ones like EBC) the shoes are always too big for the drum to slide over. I normally grind a little at a time on the surface of the shoe where it touches the cam until I can get the drum on. Do they make these shoes oversized to make up the difference in worn drums? Anything I'm missing here? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,969 Posted August 20, 2020 my money say's the drum is worn down beyond service limit. when you go to install new brake shoes, and the drum will not slide over the shoes ?, most times you have to do two things here, grind down/remove some off the brake drum steel ring in order for the drum to clear the new shoes. once you do this, if the drum is worn so far down that the shoes wont reach the lining of the worn drum ?, you can either wrap some tin around the brake cam to push the shoes out further ?, or..cock the cam back further to make up for the distance. they do sell over size brake shoes , but i do not know where you get them ?. dealing with brakes is one of my best skills, have done a ton of them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,719 Posted August 20, 2020 57 minutes ago, shadetree said: my money say's the drum is worn down beyond service limit. when you go to install new brake shoes, and the drum will not slide over the shoes ?, most times you have to do two things here, grind down/remove some off the brake drum steel ring in order for the drum to clear the new shoes. once you do this, if the drum is worn so far down that the shoes wont reach the lining of the worn drum ?, you can either wrap some tin around the brake cam to push the shoes out further ?, or..cock the cam back further to make up for the distance. they do sell over size brake shoes , but i do not know where you get them ?. dealing with brakes is one of my best skills, have done a ton of them. I removed the ring on the drum. I have another Foreman on deck to start on when I finish this one, and I have a new set of pads for that one. Might try swapping them over and see if it makes a difference. I cocked the cam to get it where it needed to be when I reassembled everything. Just not sure why I got a nice firm lever with it in the air, then once I rode it it lost the adjustment (unless perhaps that cam rotated a full 45 degrees where it wasn't pushing out on the drum as much) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishfiles 20,147 Posted August 20, 2020 Why it happened to you like that I have not a clue , maybe the cables were not fully seated in the cable holder bracket ------ I might try re-indexing the brake lever on the cam shaft splines by a spline or two 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,969 Posted August 20, 2020 1 hour ago, jeepwm69 said: I removed the ring on the drum. I have another Foreman on deck to start on when I finish this one, and I have a new set of pads for that one. Might try swapping them over and see if it makes a difference. I cocked the cam to get it where it needed to be when I reassembled everything. Just not sure why I got a nice firm lever with it in the air, then once I rode it it lost the adjustment (unless perhaps that cam rotated a full 45 degrees where it wasn't pushing out on the drum as much) you could have said something already about removing the ring !..lol..details..details !!..lol. as for why it changed when in air ?, simple..cable was stretched when in air, when you put it on ground, cable retracted a tad. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,719 Posted August 20, 2020 1 minute ago, shadetree said: you could have said something already about removing the ring !..lol..details..details !!..lol. as for why it changed when in air ?, simple..cable was stretched when in air, when you put it on ground, cable retracted a tad. Ah,that makes sense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,969 Posted August 20, 2020 14 minutes ago, jeepwm69 said: Ah,that makes sense. this mean the check is in the mail ?..lol. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishfiles 20,147 Posted August 20, 2020 I am not buying into the cable being a different length with the swing arm all the way down or all the way up 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,719 Posted August 20, 2020 3 minutes ago, Fishfiles said: I am not buying into the cable being a different length with the swing arm all the way down or all the way up You don't think with the swingarm dropped it might be pulling the cable taut, vs it being relaxed with the rear end on the ground? Makes sense in theory (to me at least) 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,969 Posted August 20, 2020 6 minutes ago, Fishfiles said: I am not buying into the cable being a different length with the swing arm all the way down or all the way up i guess you have not installed new brake cables lately huh ?..oh thats right...ya'll don't have brakes down yunder...just tress !..lol. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,969 Posted August 20, 2020 3 minutes ago, jeepwm69 said: You don't think with the swingarm dropped it might be pulling the cable taut, vs it being relaxed with the rear end on the ground? Makes sense in theory (to me at least) he just wants to stir the pot..lol. try adjusting the cable with it on the ground..see what happens. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites