strange noise comming from the rear of my 89 RS 5.0. not sure what it is. couldnt remove 1 of the drums, i checked the one side and it looks fine. since i couldnt get the drum of the other side im suspecting i need rear brakes. do the brakes usually wear evenly? i recently bought the car and i noticed that 1 tire has significanlty less tread then the other rear tire which tells me someone was doing burnouts with the car. anybody have any thoughts? thank you

 

What kinda noise is it? A metal scraping noise? or a whine? A whining may be something in the rear end itself, like pinion bearing.

The drum is stuck because the brake shoes are too tight against the drum. To remove the drum, many times you have to use a brake spoon and loosen/spin the adjusting wheel inside the drum - there is a slot at the lower center of the backing plate - maybe a rubber plug in it - a screwdriver can be used, but it's a pain - get a spoon from parts store ($5 max). There is a wheel in there with teeth (like a gear). You have to turn this adjustment wheel forever and a day to get the drum off, and which direction I don't know - it's a "turn for awhile and see if it loosens" kinda thing. Sooner or later, the adjuster will pull in the brake shoes enough to get the drum off.

This adjustment wheel self-adjusts the rear brakes each time brake is applied in reverse motion.

If you are unsure of the previous owners mechanical abilities, you may want to have a shop take the drums off, and verify that the adjusters have been reinstalled correctly (on the right sides). I once installed the adjusters on the wrong sides, and the brakes self-adjusted going forward instead of in reverse, making the brakes really terrible.