Hey all,


I recently had my 85 Camaro SC inspected and it failed due to bad wheel cylinders. When the mechanic went to replace them, he said that the "hole" that reatains the wheel cylinder to the backing plate, was rusted out. He mentioned a retainer kit. So I checked with Napa and they have something called a "wheel cylinder retainer kit" but it doesn't give much of a description. I was wondering if this will fix it or do I need to replace the whole backing plate? Oh yeah, it is for the stock drum brakes.

 

Never heard of such a thing? That doesn't mean there isn't...
Besides, new backing plates are cheap, and the 'retainer' thing sounds like a temporary band-aid fix.
IMHO

Pete

 

Thanx for the input. I just looked at Napa and they have a whole kit (new wheel cylinders, hardware, plates) for 48.99 ea. Is the removal an easy thing or is it something that garage has to do? Thanx again.

 

It all depends on how 'mechanically inclined' you and maybe some friends are.....it involves digging into the rear end to drain the fluid, remove a bolt on the differential case, pulling the axles out of the housing, removing the existing backing plates & cylinders & brake shoes with hardware, installing the new pieces, bleeding the cylinders and filling the axle up again.
While you're in there, it wouldn't hurt to put in new axle seals and shoes, and fresh rear axle oil w/posi additive (if your's is so equipped).
It's not real hard to do, just a bit involved.

Pete

 

It will be myself and a guy I work with, who does ALOT of his own work on his cars and his mom's. We are going over what is involved by looking at the Haynes and Chilton's manuals. But they only go into so much detail. Anyway, from what you posted, it doesn't sound all that hard, at least I hope not, just time consuming.

 

The only 'trouble spot' may be in removing the old backing plates; the large bolt and nut up top may need some muscle or leverage, and the two lower bolts may have the heads break off them, but that's no sweat...you can drill the bolts out and just use some ¼" bolts and nuts to reattach the plates.
If you have the time beforehand, soak all those bolts with some WD40 or Liquid Wrench (not sure of the names of stuff you might have available down your way).
Good luck!

Pete

 

The wheel cylinder is not attached to the backing plate. It is attacthed to the axle housing flange, and through the backing plate. You can install the wheel cylinder without any backing plate at all. But then of course you would not be able to install any brake shoes.

Ask your mechaninc to look again.

Thanx, andyZ28

 

My friend told me about the WD40 and/or Liquid Wrench. Sounds like a good idea. I did look under the car and the bolts are pretty rusty. I did find the section in my Haynes manual that mentions how to remove them. Again, it does not sound to involved, just time consuming. Probably would not hurt to change the "gear lube" while we have it apart.