1998 E350 drum brake replacement
 

I pulled the drums off my van this weekend. The driver side brakes and hardware were in excellent condition. On the other hand, the passenger side brakes, wheel cylinder, and related hardware were thrashed. Springs were rusted and broken. The cylinder was leaking fluid.

As I started pulling equipment off including removing the cylinder, my son and I decided to call a mobile mechanic. While we believe we could have completed the job, we are getting the van ready for a 5,000-mile camping trip on the first weekend of June. With our departure date rapidly approaching, it makes more sense to work extra hours when available at work and pay someone to do heavy lifting like drum brakes. It took nearly 2 hours to remove the cylinder. The mobile mechanic showed my son how to remove the backing plate to make the job easier.

Mobile mechanic Pablo came to the rescue. He showed up Sunday morning ready to work at 7 AM only to find out that the parts at Napa did not arrive. He is not a millennial and does not rely on voice mail or text for information. He likes face to face or at least a live phone call. He told me to forget about getting the parts at Napa as they screwed up the order twice in 1 day. He sent to a local parts house where he gets 30% off!

Mobile Pablo arrived at AM and had the brakes completed in a few hours. He also repaired the growling noise on the Honda. It was a loose screw on the manifold cover-very common for vintage Hondas.

I hope that this brake job lasts 100k as I don't like all the moving parts in drum brakes. I should have thought about this before I purchased the van. Glad is complete!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...fa6225f303.png

Hi! Nice picture, and mucho gracias to Pablo !! I have a question: I’m getting ready to do the rear brakes on my 1990 e350 and I thought that the axle had to be pulled first, to then remove the drum...but in your picture, the drum is off with the axle still in place. Did I read something wrong, and did my job just get easier?

On my vehicle, axel removal is not required. However, Pablo removed the backing plate to install the cylinder. My son was able to remove it with his tiny fingers. Pablo has fat fingers. You have an older vehicle and axel removal may be part of the process.

Thanks! I will find out shortly what’s required, first hand!,