Groaning sound coming from brake drums

With you saying "had" things replaced/repaired/checked, I am assuming this was done by a professional.

Brakes will groan and it is normal.

I am guessing this is when you barely ease off of the pedal and completely disappears when you get completely off of the pedal.

After your shoes wear in better to the drums surface it may go away.

Sometimes it occurs after the vehicle has sat awhile un-driven and the drums get a little surface rust on the inner surface.

When this happens in one of ours and the wife is with me, I will prolong it as long as I can, fine tuning my mating whale noises while creeping up to a stop, she really likes me doing that!

The Medic

Haha nice! But yes they were replaced by experts so to speak at Firestone, this was about eight months ago and I drive my car every day basically. so I am wondering if it may be something to be concerned about?

Are you capable of removing the drums for a look-see?

The Medic

Before we jump in on that.

When you push the emergency brake, does it push in tight nearer the top, or is it a longer push nearer the bottom?

Nearer to the bottom "might" reflect the self adjuster(s) are not adjusting the shoes outward as they wear.

Normally crud might keep them from moving.

Could be this part of the hardware was not replaced or cleaned well enough for reuse.

Note: One side has a right hand thread, the other side is a left hand thread.

Even stupider, if the right side adjuster screw got swapped for the left side. This would not let the shoes adjust outward at all when they need to.

"Wearing In" would mean the shoes mate to the drum snugly, like 100% of the lining surface is touching the drum.

If adjusting (or lack of) is not taking up the slack or gap as the shoe wears, lining contact to the drum will suffer.

Lesser friction (lesser stopping power) and since the "gong effect" of the drum is not dampened by full shoe contact, this could mean a groaning sound.

When I first read your question, I took it that you had replaced the drums after you heard the sound for a while. After reading it again, looks like this has been going on after the shoes should have worn to the drums curvature.

If you cannot access the innards (maybe send pictures).

If you call the shop and express/explain your concerns, they might crack them open and re-check their work?

Same chain replaced my elderly neighbors turn signal at no charge at all.

I am sure the dealership would not have been so generous!

I did post a few diagrams/screenshots that you can look over. The are Taurus. The last in the bunch has the hub removed (can see the adjuster better).

Your turn,

The Medic

Thanks man! I have been looking into simply replacing the entire thing, those screws and the shoes and all the other hardware .

Let us know what you find/do!

The Medic

So I spoke to my mechanic, I was having him check my car for a suspension problem i've been having as well. I told him about the groaning sound and he told me it wasn't the brakes or drums, he simply told me that the suspension needed lubrication, that it makes that noise because of lack of lubrication. What do you think?? I posted a video on when I slowly release the brake pedal and it makes that noise I talk about.

Try the video again!

The Medic

For some reason it tells me "successfully uploaded" yet no video shows up??

Here it is, finally.

What did you do to get the video to upload? We have not had any complaints and they upload good for us. It sounds like you have a bad booster or the brake pedal pivot needs some oil. Here are diagrams so you can see what you are in for I would try lubing the pivots first.

Do you have adjustable pedals? You might need to get under the dash while someone is pushing the brake pedal so you can feel where the noise is coming from also make sure the mounting bolts are tight you should remove the lower panel can gain better access.

Check out the diagrams (Below)

Let us know what happens and please upload pictures or videos of the problem.

Cheers, Ken

I guess I just had to type something in the reply box in order for it to submit.

Thanks for letting us know :)