Rear Drum Brake Rubbing / Wheel Wobble

My driver's side rear drum appears to have some runout causing the wheel to wobble a bit side to side. they also seem to be rubbing a bit causing a vibration especially around 45 mph. What could be causing this? I already had the axle shafts checked for runout and they are both .005 on each side. Bearing are good with no noise or play.

The dealership replaced my rear diff due to "excessive bearing clearance" under warranty but I don't think that was the problem.

Any other ideas?

I didn't replace the paper gasket when I removed the drum to install a new one but i doubt that would be a factor. They keep trying to tell me my tire is out of balance but that wouldn't cause the brakes to rub. I'm sick of shops treating me like i'm an idiot. They said "it's a normal characteristic of the truck" but this is a new issue and I know it's not normal. I also replaced the wheel which I thought was bent but no dice.

I even had the ECGS bushing installed in the front diff which I thought may have contributed to the vibration but no change.

I've been dealing with this for months now and it's been stressful having my truck in and out of the shop, spending money, being without a vehicle, and still having the problem. I deliver part-time using my truck so I'm driving in it 5 hours at a time and it's driving me insane.

 

Taking into account the brake hardware is correct and installed correct .

At times Drums are stored in a up right position rather then flat to save space .

They will warp causing your problem two new brake drums.

This was told to me by different Brake Manufacture Sales Reps over the years. Hard to believe they would warp.

Good Luck!

 

put a new drum on and same thing. Hard to believe OEM drum and new drum are both warped the same way. going to throw the OEM one back on and get the new one turned at a machine shop just for peace of mind.

 

Sorry if I misunderstood you. Are you saying it wobbles with the wheel on or off? Does swapping wheels make a difference? Those drums are pretty tough.

 

both. wobbles with wheel on or off

 

I have seen one lug nut torqued much tighter then the others cause the wheel to do strange things. More a problem on the front axle but who knows.

If you have a dial indicator Mount the Drum on the axle Backward .

Center the indicator on the axle . That should show you what you have .

If the brake hardware is correct .

The wheels have been swapped around with no change .

The axles have been checked correct . A bent axle Housing has been ruled out?

Just a strange case of stacked tolerances each part just being out enough to not cause a problem yet all added together they do.

Good luck ! You will get this figured out.

 

lug nut torque is good. i use a torque wrench at 83 ft./lb in a star pattern. i had 2 shops check the runout on the axles and they say they are good. they said runout on both sides is 0.005 which is normal. i think if the axle housing was bent it wouldn't cause a wobble, just bad alignment, but correct me if i'm wrong. i haven't had any collisions that could have bent the housing besides some insane potholes. but i think it would destroy the wheel before the housing. both shops say there is nothing wrong with the axle. they keep trying to tell me that my wheel is out of balance and they all charge me a diagnostic fee to balance my tire while i'm out of a truck for a couple days. I've brought it to the dealership 3 times now, a 4x4 shop twice, and Discount Tire 3 times. I also brought it to a small local shop who didn't want to work on it because he said it's under warranty and I should go to the dealership. So i'm up to 9 shop visits now....this is driving me nuts.

it's like no one cares to do actual diagnostic work anymore.

does drum orientation matter? i didn't replace the paper gasket behind the drum when i removed it and there were some tiny pieces stuck to the hub and backside of drum. got a new paper gasket from toyota and some wire brushes to clean off the old material. going to do that this weekend if I can find the energy. Just worked 6 days in a row and am pretty tired of dealing with this crap.

i replaced the wheel with a "used, reconditioned" wheel which Discount Tire says they've never gotten a bad one. Only thing left to replace is the tire itself. Got new tires a month ago. can't find anything visually wrong like a broken belt but you can see the tire wobble a bit side to side in the side mirror.

Discount Tire used a road force balancing machine and the manager said the runout numbers looked good....could the runout numbers look good on the machine and new tire still be bad? These are Continental TerrainContact H/Ts.

 

i cleaned off some of the corrosion on the hub and lubed some of the contact points in the drum brake. seems a little bit better. getting new tire mounted tomorrow. could corrosion/buildup on the hub actually be enough to cause the wheel to wobble?

 

If the build up was enough to push the wheel away from the hub in one spot.

 

also replaced the paper gasket behind the drum which was bonded to the hub and rear of drum. took almost a half an hour of using a wire wheel on a drill to get 80% of it off. ordered one of these babies so I can get the tight spots:

https://ameintl.net/products/37330-hub-buddy-impact-driven-lughub-surface-cleaner/

 

so replacing the drum brake gasket got rid of 90% of the wobble. what's interesting is, i had the rear brakes bled at a shop, and they removed the gasket and now my wheel is wobbly again. i also have yet to clean all the corrosion off with that tool i ordered. So i think that paper gasket really does something even though people say you don't need it. got two more gaskets, going to use that hub buddy tool this weekend once it stops raining.

i guess the corrosion on the hub is enough to throw the wheel off balance. don't know why none of the shops i visited cleaned up the hub. i thought that was standard practice.

https://www.import-car.com/tech-tip...-corrosion-from-hub-and-rotor-mating-surface/
https://ameintl.net/rist-procedure-hub-buddy/
https://www.wrenchxd.com/how-to/how-to-clean-wheel-hubs-5fcbeb16f108660008938d1c

 

Not that your wrong but you must be really sensitive to that movement.

Have you ever Checked Things With a dial indicator or have any of the shops to have a real world number?

I have never used a Gasket on the Drum Brakes ever for what that is worth.

Good Luck getting this figured out to your Satisfaction !!

 

And just to confirm, no loose or misaligned driveshaft fasteners? When the wheel to drum to hub are all cleaned to basically a mirror ( obviously the wheel wouldn't shine). Rotate your tires in an x and see what happens

 

everything is tight from what i can tell. have had multiple shops inspect everything more than once. Only thing i can think of is the drum is warped but the new drum was even worse. maybe the new drum is warped too?

 

Possibly but in experience on vehicles that have nuts and hubs like ours (dual rear wheeled trucks) the smallest bit of corrosion, especially around the ring of the wheel and/or hub will cause a vibration. Or if the edge of the rim around that centre bore got folded but not seating the wheel flat before tightening the nuts.

 

i've replaced the wheel so that's not the issue. I also cleaned off all the corrosion and replaced the paper gasket.

 

Have your personally used a dial indicator on everything that spins... not every tech actually knows how to do it properly

 

no, after a dozen + shop visits i gave up on it. been trying to fix it for months now and it was driving me nuts.

 

solved the issue. traded in my taco for a black 2023 civic si. moved south and changed jobs so don't need a truck anymore. got sick of Toyota giving me the runaround even though i'm supposed to be under warranty. feels good to have a manual transmission again.

 

Interesting fix