Dumb brake question

This weekend I'm going to be changing the front hubs, pads, and rotors on the ranger(02, 4wd, 4.0 if that matters). Simple enough right?

When I do that, I want to change the brake fluid because to my knowledge it's original. I like the gravity bleed idea, just cracking open a bleed valve and letting it go.

Where the dumb question comes in: the rear has drum brakes. Do drums have bleeder ports on them? Do they need to be bled a certain way? Should I bother adjusting them?

All I know about drums is that they're full of springs and shoes and are rather confusing looking to be honest. 

Drum brakes have a bleeder on the back of the cylinders. It should protrude through the brake backing plate right at the twelve o'clock position normally. I'm not familiar with the Ranger arrangement, so details might differ, but there'll be a bleeder.

Drums have bleeders. Do pass side first. 

Adjustment wouldn't hurt, but shouldn't be necessary if the adjusters are working properly. 

Dont overthink it.

In reply to RevRico :

When doing all that work on the fronts, it is probably a good time to service the rear drums - clean all the dust out and lubricate the slide bits.

And if you do decide to take anything apart on the drums, do it one side at a time so that you have the other for reference.

Furious_E said:

And if you do decide to take anything apart on the drums, do it one side at a time so that you have the other for reference.

And/ or take a picture

I'm assuming your truck has an 8.8" rear axle with 10" drums (as opposed to a 7.5" with 9" drums) . Below is a wheel cylinder for your truck. You'll find the brake line plumbed into it and the bleeder right above it. Obviously, you will only see the raised circular part through the backing plate. 

This is all of the rest of the parts comprising your drum brakes. It's not as scary as it looks after you do it a couple of times. 

These mostly useless looking tools make terrible hammers, but make moderately OK drum brake tools. 

You could get 2 wheel cylinders, that drum/shoe/hardware kit and the tools for under $150. I miss my Ranger(s). 

i miss mine too, Ranger that is.  I do not miss drum brakes! I learned to work on cars back when they cam with 4 wheel drum brakes! Yeah, for 4 wheel discs!

If your rear bleeders look anything like the ones on my Ranger, good luck.  Granted mine is a '96 so a bit older but they are pretty seized on there.  I pulled the drums, inspected, shoes looked good, readjusted and 'let it be'.  Make sure you have a good flare/line wrench, otherwise you can also try and get a deep socket over it with a ratchet to try and loosen.   Worse comes to worse, you may need to get vise grips on it and ultimately replace the bleeder fitting.  

I've done drums in the past, if you're replacing the hardware/rebuilding they're not too bad but best practice is to lay each part down directly beneath the axle you're servicing and have everything layed out just as you remove it.   Always back out the star adjuster beforehand too especially if you're doing new shoes.

I did rebuild the entire front system(new pre-bent lines, calipers/rotors/pads/bearings)  I may tackle the rear system and get new drums and everything and probably wheel cylinders and ultimately re-bleed everything.

Drums aren't that tough, and, as others have mentioned, take pictures and do one side at a time. Having the correct tools is huge help too. Shouldn't be a bank breaker if you have to buy them, but hopefully your local parts store has them in the loan a tool program.

If anyone mentioned it, I missed it, but the front and back shoes will be different. They have a primary and secondary shoe. The difference is the the length of the lining.

I believe the shorter lined shoe is the primary and goes on the front. Can someone confirm or correct me on this?

It's been over 30 years since I've done drum brakes. Apparently I must have killed that particular brain cell.

When I had trouble bleeding a motorcycle system, I got a 100cc plastic syringe from Tractor Supply, put a hose on the end and fill the system from the bleeder end pumping it up hill.  Does your Ranger have ABS?  Can't speak to Fords, but on my C-1500 it was a pain.

jimbbski said:

  I do not miss drum brakes! I learned to work on cars back when they cam with 4 wheel drum brakes! Yeah, for 4 wheel discs!

Especially when the front drums are aluminum with steel inserts, 11" diameter and 3" wide and have 3 shoes and cylinders in each one. Brake jobs took a week because you had to take off the shoes and take them to a shop to grind off the old pad material, custom cut and glue on the new pad.

In reply to Stanger2000 :

Agreed.  If you live in the salt-belt, I wouldn't touch those bleeders unless you are prepared to replace them - likely with new wheel cylinders... and possibly brake lines as well. 

Well, I crawled under the truck yesterday to take a look around and noticed something.

The inside of the rear drivers tire was wet. Gee that looks funny, pooped the good and sure enough, low on brake fluid. 

The soft and hard lines look good, and dry, but I traced the fluid to the bottom of the drum. Am I correct in assuming this is a wheel cylinder issue? Or should I bite the bullet, spend the extra $75 and do the whole drum in a vain attempt to save time and not have to do it again? The idea of a $5 part scares me into thinking it will be a 2 day replacement. 

I didn't open anything up, I just didn't have the time, but there really isn't anything else that could leak inside a drum than the wheel cylinder from looking at parts. 

In reply to RevRico :

Your diagnosis is good.  Wheel cylinders collect sediment and corrosion at the bottom of the bore that damages the pistons over time and eventually they start to leak.  It'd one is leaking today, the other will be leaking in 3 months.

i can ship you my drum brake spring tools if you promise to ship them back, but buying a set from HF is probably cheaper than shipping, LOL. 

Oh, you should definitely soak the tube nuts and the bleeders with your favorite break-free product now, so maybe they'll come apart cleanly when you get to it.