Taking the plunge. My journey as an O/O.

How in the world can shoes make a hub out of round?! They don't touch the hub.

 

What?

Sorry, wrong word. Drums. Brainfart.

 

Hubs don't go bad unless there's a reason. And they have no effect on brakes unless the inner seal leaks.

 

An old rule of thumb is change the drums every other brake job. But now, some shoe manufacturers are making shoes out of a much harder material that just eats up cast drums. Need to check it with a micrometer and see how much of the drum is still there. I wouldn't worry about them being out of round, they would tell ya that if they were. The truck would jump up and down when you hit the brakes

 

Yes. One of my trainers had out of round brakes at one time. I remember what they felt like. With nearly 600k miles on the drums, I have no problem with them being replaced. There is a significant visible depth of wear to them, where the shoes fit.

 

It certainly wont hurt to put new ones on. And considering you dont do your own work it's probably best.
I would definately recommend that you spend the extra and get steel, balanced drums and not the cheap cast iron drums.

 

The truck will have a full set of new drums after these are done. All replaced in the last 150k miles. If I keep the truck long enough to need more drums, I will consider going to steel rather than iron.

 

Oh just look at the drums for a big ridge, and feel them across with your fingers.Smooth? Minor spider cracks are normal, Reuse, deep ridges, replace. Buy the cheapest ones you can find, if needed. Get the good brake shoes, coated for corrosion

 

These repairs will never end. I can relate 100%. Get used to it and get a better paying gig or buy a new truck and probably still get a better paying gig.

 

Aye, as I have said before, my next truck will be new, or slightly used with lots of full warranty remaining on it.

As for better paying, I am definitely looking into that, but I tend to make changes slowly, and really want to own the truck and make some decent income with it for at least a short while before I go to a newer truck.

After rebuilding the motor and paying for about half of it, it changes the numbers.

If I hadn't needed the engine rebuild, and lost a full month of driving income, plus a full month in a hotel, I'd be close to paying off the loan in full right now.

These complaints fall under the category of "If wishes were fishes."

Reality says it would be silly for me to add more complexity to my life right now.