Need Help Changing Rear Drum Brakes On 05 Silverado

danmc00 · November 10, 2008

I have done the front disc brakes by myself several times, but I have never done the rear drum brakes. I didn't know they still had drum brakes on them. My truck is a 05 Silverado 4WD Z71. Does anyone have any pointers on this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

95Sierra2500 · November 10, 2008

There's lots of spring tension in there. Be careful or you'll hurt yourself.

In all honesty, I can't rememeber the steps to doing drum brakes unless I'm sitting there staring at it. I do know that it's best to load up the adjuster screw with either grease or anti-sieze or you'll be tearing them down again in a few months. I also remember that it's helpful to only tear down one side and put it back together before moving to the other side. This gives you a reference on how everything should be set up (mirror-imaged, of course). Or you can take pictures with a digital camera and print them out - that helps alot too.

I recommend getting a repair manual on your truck and make sure it has detailed pictures on doing drum brakes if you're not used to them. It will help you immensely.

grampadirt · November 10, 2008

+1,you should also have the drums turned,if there's enough meat still there.It's much ceaper than replacing a drum.

Reverendbiker · November 11, 2008

I have done the front disc brakes by myself several times, but I have never done the rear drum brakes. I didn't know they still had drum brakes on them. My truck is a 05 Silverado 4WD Z71. Does anyone have any pointers on this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

It's not a terribly difficult job if you have the proper tools, but it's about 10X more difficult without them. Being an old fart, I have tools like this:

Brake Tool kit

You'll be working with springs and retainers under pressure and will need to adjust the shoes after they're set. Best have a brake shop do it because they'll do it and turn the drums for a reasonable price. If you insist on trying the job, here is the best writeup I've seen. It's on a Chrysler, but the mechanics are pretty much the same:

Drum Brake Repair

McBain · November 11, 2008

How many miles are on the truck? My old Ford went well over a 100,000 before I changed the shoes and even then they weren't worn down. A corner of the shoe surface had broke off, so I replaced them, but I was surprised how long they went. I completely agree with 95Sierra, especially the part about doing only one side at a time. I'm amazed how quickly I forget exactly how those springs go and having the other side as a reference is a must for me.

If you have trouble getting the drums off a few pecks with a rubber mallet helps out. If they still won't come off you may have to pull the adjuster plug on the back side, release the lock and back off the adjuster screw. I normally don't need to do this.

There are some special spring tools, but I find needle nose vise grips work best for me.

Overall it's not a bad job, just not as easy as changing disc brake pads.

danmc00 · November 11, 2008

The truck only has 28,000 miles on it. I didn't think it would need a rear brake job yet either. It's still under factory warranty. Should I have a dealer look at it first? They are just squeaking a little when I slow down.

txab · November 11, 2008

The truck only has 28,000 miles on it. I didn't think it would need a rear brake job yet either. It's still under factory warranty. Should I have a dealer look at it first? They are just squeaking a little when I slow down.

I would take it in and have the dealer look at it.

McBain · November 11, 2008

The truck only has 28,000 miles on it. I didn't think it would need a rear brake job yet either. It's still under factory warranty. Should I have a dealer look at it first? They are just squeaking a little when I slow down.

If you have done some hard braking, it's possible that the drums/shoes are glazed which can cause squeaking. I would definitely get that checked out as that can affect braking performance. There are other things that can cause squeaking which may not affect performance much, but are still annoying. I'm a do-it-yourselfer, so I would pull the drums and take a look first, but since it's still under warranty taking it to the dealer can't hurt.

Keep us posted on what you find out.

95Sierra2500 · November 11, 2008

The truck only has 28,000 miles on it. I didn't think it would need a rear brake job yet either. It's still under factory warranty. Should I have a dealer look at it first? They are just squeaking a little when I slow down.

I would take it in and have the dealer look at it.

Given that you're still under the warranty, I would take it to a dealer and at least have them look at it first to see if you've got a problem. Even with heavy braking the shoes on a set of rear drum brakes should last 50k+ miles. If they don't, you've got a problem somewhere.

bubba33 · November 11, 2008

28000 miles. I have had cars and trucks go to the junkyard with the orginal back breaks.

Dexgto · November 11, 2008

The truck only has 28,000 miles on it. I didn't think it would need a rear brake job yet either. It's still under factory warranty. Should I have a dealer look at it first? They are just squeaking a little when I slow down.

I would take it in and have the dealer look at it.

They dont replace brakes if there worn out. They have a name for it but i cant think of it right off the top of my head. I used to be a mechanic and trust me we never replaced brakes under any warrenty.

sneyeper · February 21, 2009

The truck only has 28,000 miles on it. I didn't think it would need a rear brake job yet either. It's still under factory warranty. Should I have a dealer look at it first? They are just squeaking a little when I slow down.

I have just over 70K on my '05 and I am getting ready to do my rear drums for the second time. Everyone else that I know (and I am sure there are exceptions out there) are pretty much in the same situation with their '05 Silverado with rear drums. I took mine to the dealer the first time to have them check it out ... it was just under 20K miles. They smiled and said they would do them for $700 something ... I told them I would take it somewhere else and they then charged me a fee for them to look at it. **No more dealer for me**

bubba33 · February 21, 2009

2 sets of rear drum brakes at 70,000 miles. Something is wrong there.

dlstewart01 · February 21, 2009

The rear shoes used on trucks today are not as thick as they used to be. They will appear to be thin and be OK. I pulled the drums off my 05 at 60 some thousand and every thing was fine, and I tow a camper. Unless you have a problem, dragging brakes, driving with the emergency brake on, you probably do not need to change them.

grimmysnr · February 22, 2009

I have an '06 that I had to replace both the front discs and pads plus the rear drums and shoes at 20k miles. I ended up getting powerslots in the front with performance pads from GM parts direct. Then bought new shoes and drums from there as well. I didnt even mess with the drums, took it to the dealer and paid about 200 bucks to have them do it. But I didnt have all the required tools and know how to dick around with drums. I had some folks i worked with who did them some years back but I was like eff it...just pay to get it done.

Would have been like 600 bucks for new stock replacements bought from dealer and them installing. Saved 200 bucks buying from GM parts direct then bringing it to them.