Celica Forums General Discussion General How long does brake shoe last?

Mine has drum brake in the rear, how long does the brake shoe last typically?

Any way of telling without opening up the drum?

Should last a while, you can take it to a dealer if your really curious. But they'll charge you a hell of a lot. As long as your not having any brake noises that are unusual, you should be ok

There's no way to tell without opening up the drum.

The maintenance manual doesn't specify this as an inspection point until after 100K miles...so that should give you a clue.

The majority of braking is done in the front anyway, so unless it squeals a lot in the rear you shouldn't worry about it.

yeah the brakes it depends on how you use them. Its different w/ everyone. Like if you have a stick shift and use the engine to help you break and downshift a lot then your brakes are likely the last longer. But if you constantly mash on your brakes wherever you go. Then your than likely to change them often.

my pads and shoes only last about 3 months , longest ive gone was 5 months but thats with out driving the car.

damn what the hell? you mash the fuck out of your brakes?

Something's definitely wrong, or you're abusing your car. I'm expecting my car to go 4 or 5 years without needing any brake work. The car I had before the Celica went 120K miles before it needed any brake work.

well shoes actually last longer then pads and they are better to, its just a bitch replacing them compared to pads...also they are in the rear so they shouldnt wear out so fast as the front cause like someone else said, the braking is mostly done in the front

As at last month, my handbrake requires me to pull all the way up pretty high before it bites. After adjusting the nuts inside the center armrest, it bite well now but I can only pull about 2-3 clicks!

My mechanic is hinting that the brake shoe might be wearing out, but I'm not totally convinced...

Any comments?

The guideline I've heard from other workshops is that: 3 front pad change = 1 rear shoe change.

Does the brake shoe generate squeaking noise like brakepads when running thin?

yup.. or makes a scratching sound. and it sounds nasty

cant beat those nice windy roads

OMG what is wrong with you! You dont need to change them that often. I have never heard anything like it in my life before. I wish you would come into my store and we could sell you the pads and shoes every three months. Please tell me that you have a lift time warranty pads and you just change them for the heck of it!

Spatzkid said it best "cant beat those windy roads"

Auto crossing every weekend or every other weekend tends to kill your tires and brakes. not to mention the time between auto cross events when my little group tends to go thru the canyon roads

70k miles still on my original set, traded my 2000 GT at 120k and it still had its original set.

damn nice!

Fantastic!!!

In that case, anybody got any idea what causing this problem of mine:

"As at last month, my handbrake requires me to pull all the way up pretty high before it bites. After adjusting the nuts inside the center armrest, it bite well now but I can only pull about 2-3 clicks!"

^^ sounds like you adjusted your handbrake, but you adjusted it too much. Try loosening it. In the manual you'll find the specs for how much force is required for 7-8 clicks.

My e-brake is about right; it'll go up about 8 clicks before requiring lots of force, and starts to grab about the 3rd click. Hope that helps.

At 8 clicks...isn't that too high by then?