Rear drum brake screeching sound

[frozenpenguins]

Morning mates,

 

Just a little concern here but there's a screeching sound on my rear drum brake whenever a brake. Is this normal?

 

I've just bought the bike 3 weeks ago but it's a year old.

 

Hope this isn't a safety issue or something.

[naim]

if the braking force is good, then u shouldnt worry. cud just be accumulated dust in the drum. drop by any mech to remove it and clean up the inside. if the braking nt good, cud be the brake shoe worn out.

[frozenpenguins]

hmm... I was riding this morning and I jammed brakes to avoid a car making an illegal u-turn... my entire rear was wobbling

 

not sure if this is a problem to affected by the drum?

[frozenpenguins]

Ok, went to unique, an uncle hand rotated the rear wheel and tapped the brake... and told me that the brake shoes are fading.

 

Then I went to WYM and the guy there throttled and jammed the brake... and told me nothing wrong, only slight moisture in the drum and not to worry.

 

Who should I listen to?

 

Bike is 1 year old 20K+ mileage.

[crazydj]

What bike are you riding?

 

I do not understand why you people all dont like to state what bike you guys riding...

[frozenpenguins]

What bike are you riding?

 

I do not understand why you people all dont like to state what bike you guys riding...

 

oh PCX 125... sorry

[terror]

I ride Wave for 9 years now and has this issue too.

It does not affet the performance of the brakes. Some mechanic will take the chance to ask you to change the brake pad. I did, only to realise after awhile the sound come back again. Go back to the same mechanic again, this time he got nothing to explain. The mechanic blows away the dust, the sound will come back very soon (after about 1 week). So if the brake pad is not worn (you can check visually by looking at the indicator), don't be conned by those mechanic to change.

[kinwei]

I heard for cars, they go and sand the braking surface. Wonder it helps?

[frozenpenguins]

I ride Wave for 9 years now and has this issue too.

It does not affet the performance of the brakes. Some mechanic will take the chance to ask you to change the brake pad. I did, only to realise after awhile the sound come back again. Go back to the same mechanic again, this time he got nothing to explain. The mechanic blows away the dust, the sound will come back very soon (after about 1 week). So if the brake pad is not worn (you can check visually by looking at the indicator), don't be conned by those mechanic to change.

 

thanks for the experience... I do find it funny that the brake shoes for a drum brake would be worn out for a 1 year old bike

[frozenpenguins]

I heard for cars, they go and sand the braking surface. Wonder it helps?

 

i don't think it's necessary yet bah o.o

[crazydj]

This is what happened to me. You can do either one of this , or both.

 

1) Service your "drum brake housing". Basically, the inside of your drum brake, not the brakes itself, the mech will grind and sand off the inside to make it even and smooth. I did this in 2009 and now in 2012, my brakes still never made the screeching sound.

 

2) You can cut grooves into the the drum brake. It works, but, like i said above, if its the housing, no point doing this. Sand down the housing first and "clean" it up.

 

I find drum brakes must service more often and its more difficult compared to disc brakes. But especially for smaller bikes, too light, disc brakes are too powerful.

 

Slightly off topic here but on and off, i will take out my disc brake pads and sand it off too make it smoother, switching the left side go right side, so that the wear will be even. I think 2 years plus my brake pads, both never change and when i check, still got alot left. So 1 year, your brake pads worn out is very unlikely.

[frozenpenguins]

thanks dj, which also means it's not recommended to change the drum to a disc for a scooter?

[crazydj]

If you want to change, you can go ahead and try ah. But you don't know whether it will be too overpowered.

[frozenpenguins]

Hmm do you know the costs involved in doing so?

 

I assuming but it's probably cheaper to machine the drum surface, but the overall cost of maintenance of the drum needs to be compared to the disc as well. -_-

[crazydj]

Hmm do you know the costs involved in doing so?

 

I assuming but it's probably cheaper to machine the drum surface, but the overall cost of maintenance of the drum needs to be compared to the disc as well. -_-

 

The maintenance is cheaper than converting to disc brakes. I ever got consider this option before, then i realised that it is too expensive. You need to buy a new rim, buy the disc, the caliper, mountings, all that crap and it can cost well over 200 bucks. I don't know how much it would cost exactly.

 

If you redo the drum brake housing, which i did in 2009, it costs 10 bucks and was a 20 minute job at my old shop years ago. Till now, i have no problems with it ever since.

 

If you want, I can recommend my current mech, Ah Choong. You can call him at 90220203. He does scooters very well.

[Fried Rice]

as long as you never lose any braking power, its normal. sometimes this sound occur because there is 'dust' on your brake pad.

[naim]

some brands (usually no brand kind) will create A LOT of dust. thats y after change brake pad, after awhile, screeching sound will be produced. go mech, clean clean blow blow abit. ok liao. 2-3 weeks later, sound come back. i suggest change to a good brand/original, check the drum for any abrasion or scrathes. if ok, make sure clean with BRAKE CLEANER. trust me those blowers wont be good enuf. on my disc brakes, a just a wipe down of the brake disc with brake cleaner instantly increase the bite.

[frozenpenguins]

thanks people. I guess i'll either live with it or follow DJ's advice to machine it.