On a yamaha jog 95, my front brake (drum) sqeals even after changing shoes. What can I do??

Question

Yamaha Jog 1995 canadian model

Answer 1

Start by taking it apart again:)

You've got 4 Areas to address
#1 Brake Drum
#2 Shoes
#3 Backing Plate
#4 Cable


#1 Drum
First,,I am not aware of being able to "turn" small bike brake drums.
Thats a common procedure for Automotive Brakes.
Bike Brakes are a bit different.
Maybe it's a New Thing that I'm unaware of??
Most bike brakes that I know of dont have enough drum thickness to accomodate any removal of material,,,especially smaller bikes.

"SQUEAL" only very,very rarely originates from anything related to Drum's Surface Finish.
NOBODY makes any Product whatsoever to remedy Brake Noise Problems related to "Surface Finish of Drum or Disc Rotor".
SEVERAL Products,,both Hardware And various "goops in a can" ARE available for Brake Noise Probs---are are applied to various places BESIDES friction surface.
That's a CLUE from the Real-World Brake Industry about where Noise comes from,,it's causes,etc,,and what can be SAFELY done about it.
Since the BAN on Asbestos use in brake friction materials,,Noise has been a common prob.
Lots is known about it,,lots has been done to minimize and even eliminate it.

The Drum's friction surface can be de-glazed by hand using medium grit sandpaper.
It doesn't need to be a "perfect job",,just wipe around it the drum's circumference as if you were washing dishes.

You're NOT trying to remove metal,,just scour the surface a bit.
Ideally,,you should have a very Light matte finish with No Shiny spots remaining when done.
DONT use much pressure---you're WIPING,,not Sanding.
180 to 220 Grit Wet-or-Dry sandpaper is what I'd use if I had a choice.
"Anything" will do "good enough"---except Extreme coarse like 36 or 50 grit.
You DONT want to score the surface,,allowing it to hold "crap" in the scratches.

CLEANING it is far more important than the resultant surface finish of hand-sanding.
Wash it with soap and water,,and Rinse & dry it Thoroughly.
Or you can spend your time and money to use any number of "**Proffesional Brake Cleaner Products",,and get the same results.
(**Most of which EAT EYEBALLS,,so be CAREFUL if squirting/spraying/splashing any of that stuff around)

#2 Brake Shoes
They're NEW??
Yeah,,so what?? :)
You STILL gotta fix them

There's 2 basic procedures,,Arcing and Venting
---ARC ing,,,
Look at Your shoes now that You've run the bike and used the brakes a few times.
You'll see on the Friction Surface only a SPOT or 2 of CONTACT.
Part of the friction surface will look "new & untouched" and part will clearly show Contact/Rubbing against the drum.

On the Rare Chance that you clearly see evidence of FULL CONTACT on the shoes,,,You're Lucky and the situation needs no further attention.

Wait,,Lemme clarify/define "Full Contact"
Absolute,Total 100% FULL end-to-end Contact is NOT expected on NEW shoes,,even when RIGHT.
"Full" in this sense means "A Majority" of the Shoe's Length.
It can Start at one end or the other,,and fade to NONE at the opposite end.
Or the "Rubbed Spot" can be Centered or Positioned anywhere along the Length of the Shoe.

You DO WANT to see about 1/2 the Total Length of the Shoe showing Contact...and it should be EVEN,,not Splotchy over it's distance.

You Do NOT want,,, a Narrow Patch,,,or Splotchy,Spotty Contact.
Ya Dont want a Contact Spot at each end And a Spot in the Middle,for example....That's a "Lumpy" shoe.

"Full"(a reasonable majority) ,Even,Consistent Contact showing on Each Shoe.

New Shoes are NOT necessarily the Right Size.
The Surface can be "bumpy",,,but more commonly is that they're Made with a Radius that's DIFFERENT than the Drum's.
They simply Dont Mate Properly.
The effect of having the REDUCED CONTACT FRICTION from that,,is that a Given amount of Stopping Power requires MORE PRESSURE.

You gotta SQUEEZE the brakes HARDER to stop,,because the tiny contact area does not generate the level of friction that more/full contact does.
That "pin point" Contact under abnormally High pressure can create QUITE a bit of noise itself.

The FIX is a bit tedious,,but simple,cheap,,and usually very quick.
You need to RE-CONTOUR the friction face of each shoe to more-fully & evenly mate with the Drum's friction surface.

Use some about 180 Grit sandpaper,,150's a bit faster,,220's slower...if you get outside that range it's not as desireable.

Fold a whole sheet in neatly half.
"LINE" the Brake DRUM with the paper,,just hold it in place by hand---the grit on the Back side helps hold it in place.
And of course you're only lining the Drum,,Partly--by the width of the paper.

Got it??
So Now You've Got a MOLD/FORM the exact size/radius of the Drum to use in Re-Shaping your Shoes.

Be Careful,,Take your time,,and PAY ATTENTION to what you're doing!
Place the SHOE ,,Inside the "SandPaper"Drum,,and slide the SHOE around it .
You want to hold it EVEN,,just as if the brake was assembled and being applied.
Try not to "rock" the shoe as you sand it.
FRICTION is gonna be VERY High,,You'll think that Ya cannot slide the shoe across the paper at all.
Just Go SLOW,,and use VERY LIGHT hand-pressure.
You'll get the hang of it.
Sand a few Light Strokes,,,and LOOK at the Shoe---You Should see those HIGHSPOTS(The Contact Spots) being sanded away.

It doesnt take Much sanding to Re-Shape them,,the Shoes are Very Soft.

You want to see Your Sanding Marks produce the same type contact pattern described above for the Shoes.
About 1/2 the full length,,and with Even,Smooth,Consistant "friction".

If You Want to make "witness marks" to monitor your progress,,,simply use a common pencil ,,make a stripe down centerline of brake shoe.

It takes a few minutes,,,but it's NOT HARD to do,,just Tedious & sorta an odd sensation/motion to get the hang of at first.
LESS or Too Little is better than over-doing it.
Even Under-Done is a big improvement over original poor contact.
Don't bother to try to make it perfect---Normal Wear will eventually take care of it.
You Just want to give it a fair-chance/head-start for the shoes bedding-in to the drum by knocking off the High Spots.

Do BOTH Shoes....You'll be an "expert" by the time ya start the second one.
Dont worry about any remaining pencil marks if you used the pencil.
And to clean the shoes after sanding,,just wipe off with a clean towel.

!!!With Both the Drum and the Shoes,,CLEAN well,,and get any sandpaper sand Outa there.
They WILL Digest some sand fine,,all brakes are made to tolerate some...but less crap in the brakes is always better.
So,Clean Well,but it dont need "surgical clean"

The 2nd PREP you can do for your shoes is Totally Optional.
VENTING,,,,use a File or Saw to cut grooves actually in the friction face of the shoe.
Simplest is Across the shoe,,4~5 grooves evenly spaced.
They should only go about 1/4 the thickness of the shoe material.
fairly Deep,,but not VERY Deep.
Width is not real important:
saw-blade width is rather narrow,,1/4" wide aint necessary.
Anything that you can conveniently do is good enough.

The Idea of the grooves is to prevent water,dust,etc from getting "stuck" bewteen shoe & drum and just swirling around held there by centrifugal force,,,the stuff gets wiped into the grooves and squeezed OUT,,,then cannot re-enter while the shoes are in contact.
It ALSO(more importantly here)helps the New Shoes to bed faster into the drum.
Also helps reduce noise by introducing several "leading/trailing" edges of the friction material(for big,long reasons not important to know)

The "Upgrade" of crossways grooves,,is angular grooves.
Instead of simple cut straight across the shoe,,,they're cut at a 45*~60* Angle.
The DIRECTION of the slant is important.
The groove Starts at the inner edge of the shoe,,,and angles outward in the direction of wheel rotation.
The idea is to create a "Screw Effect" that drives water/dust/etc toward to OUTSIDE edge of the brake when it can be spun off by drum's rotation.
"Done BACKWARDS" it would draw stuff IN to the drum with no place to escape.

Either Groove Mod is OPTIONAL,,it IS worth the effort though.
IF,IF You Do decide to try it,,,Dont cut completely THRU the friction material.
I'm sure Your shoes DONT have rivets,,but NEVER cut shoe grooves near rivets.
And IF you decide to try an Angle Cut,,,LOOK AND THINK 1st,,and Make CERTAIN You have them in the CORRECT direction,,
If Direction is not correct you're defeating the angle's purpose--or Worse.

RE-Contouring the Shoes is a MUST.
Grooving them is worthwhile,,but strictly Optional.

***Backing Plate
This is where a lot of "brake jobs" go wrong.
The most common approach is to simply smear some grease or oil the Shoe's Pivot Points,,better than NOTHING,I 'spose.
Lots of times the Backing Plate don't even get That much attention.

Many folks are also not aware that "Backing Plate" is a major contributor to Brake Noise,,,,to look at it ,it doesn't seem Logical that it even Could.

The Correct care & prep is simple,,,and amounts to nothing but Clean & Lube.

First,,you can use all sorts of Lubes "good enough".
I really reccomend using the PROPER TYPE of Lube.
If that means a trip to WalMart or The AutoParts Store and spending a couple $$,,,Oh Well.

The PROPER Lube commonly available for cheap,
is Automotive Wheel Bearing Grease >>for DISK BRAKES.
Most car grease meets that spec.
It's made to be highly water resistant,,and Heat Resistant,,and DiskBrake Spec'd grease has the highest heat resistance.
Which helps assure it Stays In Place when hot,,and doesnt melt & drool all over your brake parts.
"Chassis Grease","all purpose",etc does NOT have the needed heat resistance...it will melt and slime up your brakes real bad.

The 2 Pivot Points for the Shoes on the backing plate are
-The Actuating Cam
-The Anchor
Which is which, is obvious.
They BOTH need to be Clean and Smooth--no Rust of brake dust caked/built up on them.

The Actuating Cam is actually a SHAFT which goes Through the plate,,and the Brake Lever is attatched to it.
That Shaft AND the Hole in the plate it passes thru both need to be CLEAN,,no Rust/corrosion,or crap.

Clean then with Fine sandpaper or Steelwool.
Clean Inside the Hole with some sanpaper wrapped around a screwriver or pencil,,whatever.
Or you can push steelwool thru several times.
LOOK and make sure its clean.
All that stuff needs to be almost "Polished",,SMOOTH & CLEAN

Applying the Grease---
Ya want to get the grease where it NEEDS to be,,and NOWHERE else.
Tricky sometimes when it's all over your hands.

On the BrakeShoe Pivot Pin/Anchor,,apply Grease in a thin film on the entire CONTACT AREA where the shoe touches it.
Ya Dont wants clumps of grease on it.
But you WILL put a SMALL Dab of grease on that end of the SHOE just before installing the shoes.
Use just SMALL dab,,,use a Qtip or paper towel to wipe away any excess that might ooze out.

On the shoe CAM,,,Lube the Shaft thoroughly,,a sorta thick-ish film---some Will ooze out when you slide it thru the hole.
Wipe away any excess.
Also,,,Lube INSIDE the backing plate hole where that shaft slides thru.

Use a modest film of grease on the actual Cam-part itself,,where the shoes contact it,,,and a thin film on That end of the shoe where it contacts the cam.

Oooohhh,You Gotta Remove the Backing Plate's Brake LEVER off the brake cam shaft.
SOME can only go on in one way/one position,,others will go on any way.
Sometimes theres a Mark On the end of the shaft that relate to the lever position.
BEFORE YOU REMOVE the LEVER,,,Make a Mark,,or Do Whatever to make certain you get the Lever re-installed in correct position.
Typically the lil' bolt on the lever must be FULLY REMOVE before the lever will come off.

Most CAR type Drum Brakes have shoes that actually RUB on the side of the backing plates,,,that type of arrangements needs a dab of lube on the contact points.

Most Motorcycles Do NOT use that set-up,,,the shoes are held away from the plate,,and are held centered by their mounting on the Anchor/Cam Pivots.

Wipe the Axle with some fresh grease on a wad of paper towels,,doesnt need a lot,,just "well coated".
LOOK in the backing plate where the axle goes thru---if it happens to have a STEEL Bushing,,grease it lightly too.
It may not have a steel insert.


**** Cable.
Oil the cable well,with whatever ya have thats easy.
To Adjust it,,,
screw Hand Lever adjuster all the way IN.
Take up as much slack as you can with the "bottom" adjuster,down at the brake.
Then make any "Fine adjustments" back up at the Hand Lever.
You can also lube the lil' cable barrel-fitting where it goes thru the brake actuator lever at the drum

All Hand levers work better & are easier on cable wear when adjusted to minimum & most slack is adjusted on other end.
At the Lever,,the cable swings an arc,,,at the other end it's a straighter pull.
A squirt of wd40 or something on the hand lever never hurts,,,including the actual cable end where it pivots in the lever.

All lots easier than it sounds,,Ya can probably DO it faster than ya can read about it,,lol.

I seriously doubt simply re-surfacing the drum will stop your noise prob.
It's important to at least Semi-Fit the shoe's contour to the drum's to avoid having all the Apply Pressure limited to a small spot or 2.
And the Shoes' Pivot Points Must be lubed well & clean & smooth,,,,and so must the Brake Cam shaft.

Another thing,,Be sure what position the back Plate Lever goes back on the shaft,,no sense sweating it trying guess where it was when trying to re-assemble.
Put the lever back on Before putting it back on the bike.
the lever is Tight on the shaft,,and it will try to push the shaft thru,,keeping you from getting fully on the shaft.

That should give You smooth,quite ,strong brakes till you wear them out again.

Brake noise is not so big a problem these days,,lots of effort has gone into "fixing" the noise probs that removing asbestos created.

It's POSSIBLE to get an occasional squeal or squeak.
>>>SAFELY<<<< Try a couple of Hard Stops if it lets out a moan in the future.
That sometimes makes intermittent,occasional noise go away


BE CAREFUL on 1st Test Ride.
Try to use the brakes moderately the first several times to let the shoes bed-in a bit further before using them really hard.
On brakes,,a looong Slow stop builds more heat than a shorter,harder stop.
Your own judgement will do just fine,,,as long as you keep in mind that you want to "break-in" the new shoes a bit and avoid over-heating them in the beginning

Good Luck,,hope any of that helps

Answer 2

Try cleaning the brake drum. The brake dust from worn brake shoes will cause squealing. The only way to remove the embedded brake dust is with "contact/brake cleaner". You can get it at bike shops and auto parts stores.
Sand the drum with fine sand paper after you clean it. It will break the glaze on the metal and not allow the shoes to slide on the drum (as opposed to grip the drum as they should).
After sanding, clean again with the brake cleaner.
When you're finished with the drum, lightly sand the shoes, just enough to scuff them up and break the glaze.

Don't ever use wd-40 on brake shoes or brake pads. It's like telling a motorcyclist while riding in the winter, "When you want to start moving from a traffic light, make sure your rear wheel is on ice."

Answer 3

Did you clean the drum well before replacing the shoes? If so, it may be a bit heat glazed, have it turned to get a new surface and see if that helps any.

Answer 4

4 letters

DW40

Answer 5

you need to sand or turn the drum.

Answer 6

LOL! "DW 40"! LOTFLMAO!