Hi Everyone,
I'm a newbee here,..I joined because I cannot figure out what its happening with my 1993 Ford Tempo 4 cylinder,..Auto transmission,.
Here's the details:
I get a terrible shutter from my car at 40mph after I drive for a few miles and apply the brakes a few times,..I live in the Great Lakes region and it only does it when the temperature gets above 50 degrees,..didn't do it all Winter but as soon as the weather got warm it started,.If I put the car in neutral when it does it,it doesn't go away either,and it does it even when the brakes are not applied.It also doesn't do it right away,I have to drive and use the brakes a few times,..here's what I have done:
Replaced 1 tire and rebalanced all the other tires
Replaced Front Rotors and calipers and pads
Replaced pass side ball joint and tie-rod end
Replaced Rear shoes and hardware and 1 drum
note here,.when I replaced the rear drum the wheel will turn 80% then grabs,..happens on both rear wheels,..I am not getting any kind of roaring noise out of any of the wheel so I am assuming that the bearings are fine,I repacked the rears and they looked ok,.but why are the rear brakes grabbing at only one point?,..do I need rear bearings replaced?,.you would figure with the new rear drum that it is perfectly round so why is it grabbing and is this the cause of the shaking?

any advise or input would be great,.I have 10 service writing expierence so I know my problems and solutions but I can't figure this one out and I am hoping someone has ran into this problem before,.ask questions if you have any and thanks for your time,.

 

If the rear hubs are not bent or off center there has to be a problem with the drums. Many times drums are not stored lying flat and can become distorted. You might consider having both new drums installed and turned on a brake lathe to insure they are running true. That should take care of that problem, what is concerning is; why was only one drum replaced, was there a problem with the brakes on one of the rear wheels? A side note , if the drums are of the economy vintage , imported from riceland, quality is questionable and so is workmanship.
It does sound like it could have air in the brake system that when heated it expands and may be applying the brakes enough to create problems. Is master cyl in good condition? Ever been replaced?

 

Thank you for responding,
.I only replaced the pass. side because it was looking a lot worse then the DR's side,..I bought the car used and I think that the Dr's side had already been replaced at one point,it just looked a lot better,.I did have to replace the brake line to the passenger rear wheel and that side was bleed out and also I bleed out the fronts with the loaded calipers installment,..but I never did the Dr's side bleed out fearing that I would break the bleeder off.I do have a one new caliper for the rear brakes so I will attempt to rebleed the system first,it's been soaked a few times with BP blaster so it may break loose..I will also have the rear drums turned out.A friend of my suggested that maybe the emergency brake may not be fully disengaged.I have never touched the emergency brake in fear that it will lock up with all the rust that has accumulated on the cable and I didn't know the history of it use,..
The person who sold me the car inherited the car and it had just sat in thier driveway for months and was never drivin,..

Sorry about the late response and I will keep you updated,thanks for your help !!

 

As you probably know , even though the vehicle may not have been driven much, time will take it's toll on rubber brake parts and even moisture gets into the fluid . Therefore , if to your knowledge, many of those parts are original, don't gamble with brakes !
Do a complete and thorough brake system job and that includes replacing all the fluid in the system and replacing calipers so the bleeding can be done confidently and thoroughly cleaning the caliper pins so they can move freely.
You don't want to have to HOPE the brakes will be there when you need them.