Amber Gramps

This evening I started in on replacing my parking brakes. I'm guessing it's been 23 years since the shoes have seen daylight and almost as long since they have worked.

I got the caliper off and out of the way and had the rotor off fairly quickly. That's when I realized it was ugly in there. I hit it with Brakleen and it didn't touch it. Then out came the Simple green and the realization that I didn't have any wire brushes.

For some reason right next to me was a new bag of 000 steel wool. I started in on the trailing arm and quickly fell in love. Has anyone else ever tried it on the trailing arms? I could eat off my driver's side trailing arm right now.

You are seeing the pink rust disolver gel that's going to soak overnight. Hopefully it will help with some of the crud on the backing plate and the springs. What a mess.

Sorry the pictures are so washed out. My Droid didn't like the lighting.

Amber Gramps

Do they all look this bad? It's seriously crusty behind the shoes. I'm gonna put it back together, but I don't let my chevy look that bad.

Please tell me this is normal.

jakeflyer

Aluminum wool is used on aircraft so that the tiny fibers of steel do not imbed and quickly rust. It can be a problem with some applications.

Amber Gramps

Thanks for the tip. That sounds like a great alternative to steel. I didn't get it anywhere near the parking brake mechanism or the calipers for fear of leaving some behind.

Amber Gramps

Well, things were going along great until I discovered a crack in the rotor. It's on the parking brake surface, but still, off they go. I'll put her back together, but before she hits the street she's getting X-drilled and coated Zimmermanns like she has in the front.

Ed Hughes

Always good to poke around in deep dark areas once in a while. I've use wool on the engine case several years ago for external cleaning.