Can Old Brake Shoes outlive their effectiveness-even though there's plenty of "meat" on them?

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

On our old mopars we take a piece of sandpaper from a board sander and sand the glaze from the lining and also sand the drums inside some and blow off with air hose. It has worked good to help the smoothness of the stop and no noise

This is always good, if ever there is an issue with rotors or drums but the linings are still good this is the compliment to machined or new friction surfaces. I recommend it and I would do it myself.

Asbestos brakes have amazing stopping power but I don’t want to risk lung cancer every time I need to do brakes.

 

[CBODY67]

On our old mopars we take a piece of sandpaper from a board sander and sand the glaze from the lining and also sand the drums inside some and blow off with air hose. It has worked good to help the smoothness of the stop and no noise

Worked on other brands, too, as that was the basic way to "de-glaze" linings and drums back then. Rather than just replace everything . . . in a time before we ever knew what "frivolous litigation" was (and judges might have taken a dim view of such). When mechanics tried to help their customers NOT spend money unnecessarily, by observation.

Thanks for the reminder!
CBODY67

 

[CBODY67]

Asbestos brakes have amazing stopping power but I don’t want to risk lung cancer every time I need to do brakes.

Maybe I'm lucky, as were others. Our service station guy mentioned, back in about 1968, that you could take an air hose and blow out the brake drums from the back side. That getting all of that dust out would make the brakes work much better. So, next time we went in for an oil change, that was requested. That activity dusted-up the 5-bay shop so much you could taste it. So the doors were opened to air things out and clear the air. No telling how many other times they'd done that. Back then, if anybody died of lung cancer, they usually smoked too. I never have and lived to still be here today. BTAIM By the middle 1970s, I discovered that washing them with a water hose stream, from the backside, worked well, too . . . without the aftertaste. That was then . . . with drum brakes.

Allegedly the small amount of copper in brake frictions was reduced LOTS as fresh-water fish in some areas were discovered to have traces of copper in them . . . living only in the water away from such. Copper allegedly getting into those rivers and streams from storm water run-off? BTAIM

Y'all take care,
CBODY67

 

[mobileparts]

Hey, Imperial Eagle 72,

The amount of Asbestos is so minimal that there is Absolutely No Threat to Lung Cancer.......
You had better never leave your house, because your chance of dying from 95 other things is far more likely.....

And even then, while you are in your house, you had better pray 2 hours a day, that no airplane parts or a tree on your property fall into your house and take your life......

Please........ I have 3000 sets of *** N.O.S. ** Asbestos *** Brake Shoes here in my house.... and I promise you,
I will NOT die from Mesothelioma!!!

Craig......

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

Hey, Imperial Eagle 72,

The amount of Asbestos is so minimal that there is Absolutely No Threat to Lung Cancer.......
You had better never leave your house, because your chance of dying from 95 other things is far more likely.....

And even then, while you are in your house, you had better pray 2 hours a day, that no airplane parts or a tree on your property fall into your house and take your life......

Please........ I have 3000 sets of *** N.O.S. ** Asbestos *** Brake Shoes here in my house.... and I promise you,
I will NOT die from Mesothelioma!!!

Craig......

That’s because if you don’t dick with asbestos it’s not an issue. As soon as you start scraping it against a rotor or drum then it releases the particles, that is the issue.

 

[fury fan]

More brake BS
I have a minor degree in automotive technology and i build cars that will go very fast for more than 15 seconds and can run 130+ so I might know something about brakes. The rivets vs bonding is bs, the groove in the middle is bs and most of all asbestos lining suck and should never ever be used. Yes it is very important for the shoes to match the drums so there is full contact. Other than that quit listening to the blathering - Use a semi metallic lining/carbon metallic lining. You old koots on here are still stuck in the 70s & full of hot air. Chrysler offered metallic linings as an option.....look in the books, it's in the galen white books and the mopar parts books. Chrysler made cop car brake pads for both slider and pin calipers, cop shocks and metallic linings. It's in the parts books which apparently no one refers too. Remember none of these guys like me....lol

There's a difference between what is necessary, or appropriate, for brakes for 130+ vs a street-driven car.
There's a reason why there are different part# for copcar vs passenger car friction parts.

Instead of just telling people what they should do, why don't you help out and explain why?
You know, contribute to people's knowledge and understanding, instead of just seeming bitter that people aren't saying or doing what you think they should.

 

[fury fan]

That’s because if you don’t dick with asbestos it’s not an issue. As soon as you start scraping it against a rotor or drum then it releases the particles, that is the issue.

Everyone's body is different and reacts differently to carcinogens.

Criag's comment about the low amount of asbestos in the friction material is an interesting counterpoint, as is the anecdote of blow-gunning them in the gas station -- that's the other end of the spectrum.

I would say that NOT blow-gunning the drum brakes during a brake job likely reduces your risk to negligible.

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

Everyone's body is different and reacts differently to carcinogens.

Criag's comment about the low amount of asbestos in the friction material is an interesting counterpoint, as is the anecdote of blow-gunning them in the gas station -- that's the other end of the spectrum.

I would say that NOT blow-gunning the drum brakes during a brake job likely reduces your risk to negligible.

Risk is still risk. Mesothelioma is a slow and painful death that I have witnessed and I would rather not partake. I always spray down brakes with soapy water or brake parts cleaner depending on what I’m up to. I don’t trust modern brake linings either.

 

[thethee]

Risk is still risk. Mesothelioma is a slow and painful death that I have witnessed and I would rather not partake. I always spray down brakes with soapy water or brake parts cleaner depending on what I’m up to. I don’t trust modern brake linings either.

You got that right, small particles are small particles == not good for you.

 

[fury fan]

Risk is still risk. Mesothelioma is a slow and painful death that I have witnessed and I would rather not partake. I always spray down brakes with soapy water or brake parts cleaner depending on what I’m up to. I don’t trust modern brake linings either.

Yes, brake cleaner is what I had in mind instead of blow-gunning.
If you do that, then your risk is aligned with what Craig said - something else will kill you first.

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

Yes, brake cleaner is what I had in mind instead of blow-gunning.
If you do that, then your risk is aligned with what Craig said - something else will kill you first.

If you can prevent something bad, why not take action to make sure you don’t have to live a life of consequences later.
30 seconds of thought can prevent 30 years of suffering.

 

[CBODY67]

When we were using high pressure air in the late 1960s, that was about"it" as to what was available and easy to do. By the time I evolved into low-pressure water, "brake clean" was still a bit exotic and highly volatile. THEN we "knew better" and were instructed to use a catch pan filled with absorbent material for the brake clean and other material, after spraying the brake items, to drip into for proper disposal . . . after the brake clean evaporated. Times change as technology increases, it seems.

 

[watchfatha]

Again, much appreciation for all the shared wisdom.

FWIW I live in San Diego, next to Mexico, so obtaining asbestos linings is not difficult. I put them on my 66 convertible and really didn't notice a huge difference. Yes, drums are in spec: they are all (4) NOS with fewer than 200 miles on them. I've had an AAJ disc brake kit sitting in the trunk for a couple of year, maybe now is the time to use it on one or the other of these cars.