Introduction: How To: Change Drum Brake Shoes for Dirt Bikes
It's Saturday, not just any Saturday, but the Saturday that you are going to go ride the trails on your dirt bike. What's that noise? A soft patting? You look outside, NOOOOOOOOOOO, it is pouring rain outside! You whole day is ruined, you can no longer go to the single track.
After crying for a few minutes, you notice something in the corner of your tear filled eyes. It's those EBC brake shoes that you have been meaning to install forever, especially since your rear brakes are non existent. A light bulb flashes above your head, your day isn't ruined anymore!
Project: Rear Drum Brake Shoe Install
Required Tools: Socket Set, Hammer, Optional: Dremel for those tough bolts :)
Difficulty: easy..
Step 1: Remove Rear Wheel
This is the first step to new brakes!! Really simple, all you need to do is remove ONE bolt! The
size of the bolt depends on your bike. Just try on sockets until one fits!
Hint: All dirt bike bolts are in metric (mm)
Once you remove the bolt, shimmy out the axle rod, you can use a hammer to hit it out, but a lot of people don't like to do that. At this point you also want to remove the chain from the sprocket.
Video:
Step 2: Removing Old Shoes
Easy step, literally just rip them all however you can!
Step 3: Preparing New Shoes
Now, you don't just want to throw the new shoes on, you have to prepare the shoes and the drum.
What I like to do is torch the hub to get it nice and dry, you can do that or wipe it with a shop towel.
To assemble the new shoes is hard to explain, just hook the springs??? Watch the video to get a better explanation.
What I also like to do after everything is torched is to sand the hub and shoes with low grit sandpaper, this speeds the seating process.
It's also a good time to spray the hub with brake cleaner and wipe it with a shop towel.
When I gave the brakes open, I like to grease the rocker arm and axle bearings, I highly recommend it.
Installing the shoes is reverse on how you took the old ones off, refer to the video for help.
Video:
Step 4: Reinstalling Tire
Reinstalling the tire is reverse to what you did to take it off! Make sure you connect the brake linkage. You will probably have to adjust since new shoes are bigger.
Step 5: Final Thoughts
The first couple of hours on the new shoes is going to be the break in point. So your brakes may not work to the fullest until they break in.
This is called bedding in. A great read, though for cars, is
http://www.gomog.com/allmorgan/brakebedding.html
You're DONE!! You have new brakes that actually stop you!!!! The rain didn't actually ruin your day, it just forced you to do some much needed work on your bike.
Next time it rains, you can always clean or work on your dirt bike!