I’m doing the drum brakes on a 2001 accord in mechanics class at the moment, my friend and I tried for 3 hours to get the damn return spring on and couldn’t get it for the life of us. Then I found this video and we got it in 15 minutes, thank you so much. You saved us a lot of time.
As an ASE certified technician since 1998, I find that rear drum brakes from the late 90s to early 2000s Hondas are some of the hardest in the industry to assemble.
This is the second video I've seen where a guy uses effing bolt cutters as "diagonal pliers!" Why not use needle-nose pliers? It's crazy to use wire cutters as pliers.
For anyone else wondering, The springs are hard enough to not really risk damage, and any sort of cutting edge will dig in ever so slightly letting you manipulate the spring without it slipping. locking pliers or needle noses are almost guaranteed to have a little bit of slipping when you put the required amount of tension pulling the spring over. It will make it take significantly longer and you're more likely to actually damage the spring.
Dan, I literally watched 8 videos before I came across this one. Needless to say those other 8 videos were helpful in way's but you actually covered everything in a manner which was easy to comprehend and follow. Great video! I just subscribed, liked and shared this video.
Flat rate it and pull the cover off the hub nut, should be a 6pt 32mm and take the hub out of the way so you dont have to work around it. then put the shoes in as an assembly. childs play, like your videos man
Awesome and easy, especially with those dedicated brake tools you use! Everybody should get those to do brake servicing for sure, including the special ferrel wrench for the brake lines! I will also make a pre- disassembly photo or video to be sure I get it back together right since I haven't done any brake work for a a long time.
Boy, these are sure poorly engineered, aren't they? I just did mine today and hopefully didn't damage the new wheel cylinders getting that ridiculous upper spring back on. Oh well, we'll see.
@@tomasbrito685 man I had to use a vice. Before I put on the emergency brake lever I connected the spring to both shoes and connect the long part of the rod on one shoe...then I put one shoe on top of one grip and the other shoe on the other grip (luckily the way the shoes are made they "hook" onto each one) and I widened the vice out, stretching the spring till I could get the other part of the adjuster rod in the groove of the other shoe. It's a real pain in the you know what!!
Dan, I have the same car. How would I know when it's time to replace those rear brake shoes? Do they make a noise when they wear down to a certain point? Btw, would of really liked to see a close up shots of the tips of the special tools you used. Thanks a lot for the video!
It's much easier to put on the main spring with the cylinder off. Remove the cylinder(even if you're not changing it), assemble the shoes together with the center spring, and now position it all into place and set the pins to hold it there. Now reinstall the cylinder, adjust everything into position, and now just add the extra small springs.
What are you doing at the very end when your spinning the drum and adjusting? I can't quite understand that part, rest of the video is amazing, thank you so much!
It could be that the adjuster rod isn’t far enough turned back in, or that the shoes aren’t centered. You can push them up or down as needed to center them enough to get the drum back on. Thanks for watching! -Dan the Fix it Man
Hey, wish there was someone to actually talk to I've been working on the same wheel for almost 2hrs, can one get the red springs fasted, the adjuster is in the waaay.?????????
Hi Alex, You should be able to change the wheel cylinder without completely removing everything. You will probably need to remove the top spring to separate the shoes enough to get it out. Best of luck to you! Thanks for watching, -Dan the Fix it Man
I've done a lot of drum brakes, particularly on big rigs. but the design for the adjustor and spring here drives me mad. I fought with it for hours, often having it lined up and the spring about to go in only to have one of the clevises slip out and start over. By far the best video on them here, many of them don't actually show it and imply you start the opposite way, having to hook them into the backside on top. Needless to say, I was extremely frustrated by a brake job taking me as long as pulling a drivetrain...
As shown @ 5:58 video time stamp I am not able to thread the break line as I have striped the nut by not using the flare wrench :( sorry. Where can we get a separate brake line and what is it called ?
This is a great video by far. And I've watched a few others. Well explained and very informative. A lot of crucial stuff that If you didn't know it'll take you a lot longer and struggle a lot more with the job. WOW! Thank you. Ps. I found out by watching this video. I put the shoes with the adjustment bracket on the rear ( wrong) side. Should have been on the right side, so I couldn't put on the adjustment bracket on. This video showed me to switch it Out the other side shoe.
ALRIGHT, I know some of us tune in just to hear what tunes they're jammin to. This is a well done video, yet I feel like I'm in a Charlie Brown cartoon. Waiting for ... "WHAAA WHAA WHAAAAAAA?" Good stuff man.
Ive been tryna buy a drum bake adjustment kit for my 99 accord and its only popping up for the driver side............do both the left and right drum brakes have adjusting parts or only the driver side
I appreciate this video. I have seen many others but they where very blurry. I can see where i went wrong. Nice simple steps all the way. Also i started on the same side as what is shown on the video.
Sorry to hear that happened...You will need to replace the wheel cylinder now and then bleed the brakes when you're done. They're not too expensive, and they're not too difficult to change. Just loosen the brake line before you remove the bolt or bolts that mount the wheel cylinder from behind. And make sure to clean up the new brake shoes as well if they got brake fluid on them. I am assuming you pressed on the brake pedal without putting the drum back on? Make sure you have the drum on when you are testing/adjusting the brake shoes. Best of luck to you! -Dan the Fix it Man
@@minecraftmaster6582 no worries, a lot of times the brake shoes are not perfectly centered on the hub. You can usually bump them up or down with your hand to get them centered. You might have to just take a step back and eyeball them to like them up. Also the adjuster should be turned all the way in. Best of luck with it. Hope that helps. -Dan
Hi Jonathan, It's the Lisle 45100 Brake Spring Tool amzn.to/2V7aOgs or the other one is the Lisle 48400 Brake Clip Tool amzn.to/2Hbprf2 Thanks for watching! -Dan the Fix it Man
hi there. I ended up changing my rear brakes on my 98 Honda accord and I ended up getting the drums smooth out but for some reason I still hear a noise on the rear right could it be something that I'm missing a friend of mine told me I might need to check the rotor
No, there's no rotor when you have drums in the back. It could be the wheel bearing, or maybe the brake shoes aren't set properly. I would lift the vehicle and spin that wheel while listening closely for the noise. Then take off the wheel and spin the drum. Then take the drum off and see if you can find the source of the noise. Good luck! Thanks for watching! -Dan the Fix it Man
Great Question, I just re-watched that part of the video, and it looks like I was holding the new one upside down compared to how I took out the old one. The bleeder screw also may have been slightly different, but it worked great at the time of installation. Thanks for watching! -Dan the Fix it Man
I wish I knew which metric bolts to use in the threaded holes of the brake drums, to aid in removal of the drums! I guess I will look for some elsewhere on the car that will thread into those holes and try those or go buy two the same size.
+Dan the Fix it Man. Hi Dan, I hired a Mechanic my Daughter has known for years, to come over & replace the Rear Drum's & Shoes on my grandson's 1998 Honda Accord LX. This is the 2nd time the Rear's have been done. At any rate, after this guy finished, he didn't take it for a test drive because he had to finish working on his truck, so I did. Since I live a mile away & my grandson was meeting at my house, I txt him & then called him to tell him now the Brake Pedal is mushy &Travel's almost to the floor. When I made the parts list, I didn't put Wheel Cylinders on the list, mainly because I did forget but there were no leaks showing on either side & I never thought about them maybe leaking internally. However, when he was replacing the rear's, the Wheel Cylinder on the left side, end popped off on the Cylinder. Although only a small amount of oil dripped out of the Cylinder, the oil did do that & like I mentioned before, after he buttoned up the rear Brakes, I drove it & yep, it was no where near the condition that it was prior to him repairing the vehicle. Now I'm thinking that one or both of the Wheel Cylinder's could be Leaking Internally which is probably why he has almost no Pedal left... Does this sound correct? I'm super pissed at this mechanic for not even returning my txt or calls & leaving a half finished project that could have a bad turnout Now I'm hoping I can change out the Wheel Cylinder's without having to remove any of the new Brake Shoe's, the Adjuster or any Springs...... Your advice would really help, Dan
If one of the wheel cylinder popped out, there would be air in the system for sure. You can try bleeding the air out first, and if it still feels soft, you may need to replace that wheel cylinder (and bleed the brakes again). I think you could probably replace that wheel cylinder without removing the shoes or springs. I haven’t tried it though on that vehicle. Also, just make sure you clean any brake fluid off the brake shoes before putting it back together. Best of luck to you! -Dan the Fix it Man
Just to be on the safe side, I did buy 2 new Wheel Cylinders Sunday at an Auto Zone by the house, although they were not OEM parts & the Shoe's & Drum's were all replacements from about 75 to 80K miles. Yep, the left rear had air in the line & the Wheel Cylinder, under one of the Seals had Brake Fluid starting to build up, so the oil would have dripped onto the rear Shoe. There was also a small tear on that same seal, so it would have had to be changed anyway. On the 98 Honda accord, there's a lot of room to pry the Shoes back enough to pop out the Wheel Cylinder, on either side, just as easy. $30 for the 2 Wheel Cylinders, just made sense anyway's to change them & yes, I did clean off the Shoe's prior to putting the new parts on because I did see a spot where Fluid had dripped on the rear Shoe. I just didn't notice it when I removed the Drum. Thanks for the great upload & also for getting back with me so soon.
If one of the wheel cylinder ends pops off....it automatically gets air In the system therefore brakes need to be bled always. Shame on the mechanic. Rushing for his own benefit leaving you folks in a safety situation. Sorry, there's no excuse. Recommend an other technician.
You only have to bleed the brakes if you replace the wheel cylinders or if while replacing the brake shoes, the wheel cylinder pops off while pulling on the springs.
This video just saved my ass. Please keep up the good work. I also appreciate that you have a link for the tools. Super awesome.
I’m doing the drum brakes on a 2001 accord in mechanics class at the moment, my friend and I tried for 3 hours to get the damn return spring on and couldn’t get it for the life of us. Then I found this video and we got it in 15 minutes, thank you so much. You saved us a lot of time.
I have used a vice grip locked onto the spring to hold and then pull it back into position.
As an ASE certified technician since 1998, I find that rear drum brakes from the late 90s to early 2000s Hondas are some of the hardest in the industry to assemble.
This is the second video I've seen where a guy uses effing bolt cutters as "diagonal pliers!" Why not use needle-nose pliers? It's crazy to use wire cutters as pliers.
For anyone else wondering, The springs are hard enough to not really risk damage, and any sort of cutting edge will dig in ever so slightly letting you manipulate the spring without it slipping. locking pliers or needle noses are almost guaranteed to have a little bit of slipping when you put the required amount of tension pulling the spring over. It will make it take significantly longer and you're more likely to actually damage the spring.
Dan, I literally watched 8 videos before I came across this one. Needless to say those other 8 videos were helpful in way's but you actually covered everything in a manner which was easy to comprehend and follow. Great video! I just subscribed, liked and shared this video.
Flat rate it and pull the cover off the hub nut, should be a 6pt 32mm and take the hub out of the way so you dont have to work around it. then put the shoes in as an assembly. childs play, like your videos man
Always the way I do it!!
Awesome and easy, especially with those dedicated brake tools you use! Everybody should get those to do brake servicing for sure, including the special ferrel wrench for the brake lines! I will also make a pre- disassembly photo or video to be sure I get it back together right since I haven't done any brake work for a a long time.
Thank you so much. Made it much easier than the first time I did it doing it your way
Boy, these are sure poorly engineered, aren't they? I just did mine today and hopefully didn't damage the new wheel cylinders getting that ridiculous upper spring back on. Oh well, we'll see.
How did you get the big upper spring back on . i cant seam to put mine back on.
@@tomasbrito685 you can always cheat and stretch the spring, if mine are a cunt to put on then you best believe ill cheat. its a 500$ winter car
@@tomasbrito685 go beast mode and put it on.
Rear shoes Sux no matter what vehicle it is
@@tomasbrito685 man I had to use a vice. Before I put on the emergency brake lever I connected the spring to both shoes and connect the long part of the rod on one shoe...then I put one shoe on top of one grip and the other shoe on the other grip (luckily the way the shoes are made they "hook" onto each one) and I widened the vice out, stretching the spring till I could get the other part of the adjuster rod in the groove of the other shoe. It's a real pain in the you know what!!
Dan, I have the same car. How would I know when it's time to replace those rear brake shoes? Do they make a noise when they wear down to a certain point? Btw, would of really liked to see a close up shots of the tips of the special tools you used. Thanks a lot for the video!
Yeah they start to squeal like metal on metal
It's much easier to put on the main spring with the cylinder off. Remove the cylinder(even if you're not changing it), assemble the shoes together with the center spring, and now position it all into place and set the pins to hold it there. Now reinstall the cylinder, adjust everything into position, and now just add the extra small springs.
Would this be why my pedal goes all the way down to the floor despite me bleeding the brakes already?!
What brake shoes do you use for your Accord, or what do you recommend for my 2002 accord? Great video!
Duralast
What are you doing at the very end when your spinning the drum and adjusting? I can't quite understand that part, rest of the video is amazing, thank you so much!
Fuck.....that.....spring
Whey is it hard to put my drum back on answer back please thx.
It could be that the adjuster rod isn’t far enough turned back in, or that the shoes aren’t centered. You can push them up or down as needed to center them enough to get the drum back on.
Thanks for watching!
-Dan the Fix it Man
Hey, wish there was someone to actually talk to I've been working on the same wheel for almost 2hrs, can one get the red springs fasted, the adjuster is in the waaay.?????????
Help, the adjuster is now trapped behind the left shoe. Could not stretch the main red spring to hook it up.??????
I need to listen to your music when working on drum brakes! Otherwise I use a lot of bad boy words! Thanks….
Good video but I’ll tell you what that too spring is the biggest pain in the ass. It took me 30 minutes to get it on.
Im happy you have calming music, because this shit is infuriating 😂
I really hope this applies to my 2001 Accord🤞🏻
How do you change the studs on the rear hub on 2001 honda Accord 4 cylinders
best video on the subject!
great video , thanks Dan
The music is distracting i am trying to listen to your instructions
I cant see anything your doing
do you have to do all that just to take the the wheel cylinder out?
Hi Alex,
You should be able to change the wheel cylinder without completely removing everything. You will probably need to remove the top spring to separate the shoes enough to get it out.
Best of luck to you!
Thanks for watching,
-Dan the Fix it Man
Thank you so much very helpful..
If i needed to replace a wheel stud, do i just need to hammer it out? Do i have to remove anything other than the drum cover
It should just hammer out. It’s usually pretty easy.
I've done a lot of drum brakes, particularly on big rigs. but the design for the adjustor and spring here drives me mad. I fought with it for hours, often having it lined up and the spring about to go in only to have one of the clevises slip out and start over.
By far the best video on them here, many of them don't actually show it and imply you start the opposite way, having to hook them into the backside on top. Needless to say, I was extremely frustrated by a brake job taking me as long as pulling a drivetrain...
Fuck hondas the worst brake design I’ve ever encountered in 20 years totally engendered to garbage
These 2000 ish Honda Accords are some of THE most reliable cars on the road though!
perfect music for an educational video
Great video. Thanks for posting
+Jacob Cothran Thank you! Glad you liked it.
Great video. Thanks Dan for posting
Very good and instructive video. thank you
+Isaiah “Isotrophic” Jones
Thanks for watching!
-Dan the Fix it Man
what are all those tools you used to remove the springs and the pin? any specific names so i can buy them?
I just added a link in the description above with the specialty tool info for you.
Thanks for watching!
-Dan the Fix it Man
As shown @ 5:58 video time stamp I am not able to thread the break line as I have striped the nut by not using the flare wrench :( sorry. Where can we get a separate brake line and what is it called ?
What is the small tool you used called?
amzn.to/2V7aOgs It's the Lisle 45100 brake spring tool.
would this be same/very similar for a 95 accord lx?
Hi Cody,
Yes it should be very similar.
Best of luck to you,
Take care,
Dan the Fix it Man
This is a great video by far. And I've watched a few others. Well explained and very informative. A lot of crucial stuff that If you didn't know it'll take you a lot longer and struggle a lot more with the job. WOW! Thank you. Ps. I found out by watching this video. I put the shoes with the adjustment bracket on the rear ( wrong) side. Should have been on the right side, so I couldn't put on the adjustment bracket on. This video showed me to switch it Out the other side shoe.
ALRIGHT, I know some of us tune in just to hear what tunes they're jammin to. This is a well done video, yet I feel like I'm in a Charlie Brown cartoon. Waiting for ... "WHAAA WHAA WHAAAAAAA?" Good stuff man.
Ive been tryna buy a drum bake adjustment kit for my 99 accord and its only popping up for the driver side............do both the left and right drum brakes have adjusting parts or only the driver side
You could of put the brakes spring on before you put the cylinder, makes it easier.
great video good music
Would have liked it if you would have shown more details for each step
I appreciate this video. I have seen many others but they where very blurry. I can see where i went wrong. Nice simple steps all the way. Also i started on the same side as what is shown on the video.
Hey man what happend if you put everything on place but when you press brake the wheel cilynder pops
Sorry to hear that happened...You will need to replace the wheel cylinder now and then bleed the brakes when you're done. They're not too expensive, and they're not too difficult to change. Just loosen the brake line before you remove the bolt or bolts that mount the wheel cylinder from behind. And make sure to clean up the new brake shoes as well if they got brake fluid on them. I am assuming you pressed on the brake pedal without putting the drum back on? Make sure you have the drum on when you are testing/adjusting the brake shoes.
Best of luck to you!
-Dan the Fix it Man
@@DantheFixitMan thanks enother ? Wy the drum dont go in i try different ways and nothing if you can give me any clue thanks
@@minecraftmaster6582 no worries, a lot of times the brake shoes are not perfectly centered on the hub. You can usually bump them up or down with your hand to get them centered. You might have to just take a step back and eyeball them to like them up. Also the adjuster should be turned all the way in.
Best of luck with it.
Hope that helps.
-Dan
@@DantheFixitMan cool man thanks il try 🫡
How did you get the first end of the spring on the rod to link with the brake shoe? You didn’t show it? It’s at 7:35
Thank you for the information (help) ! / keep 0n carrying on !!
Love how at the end you said you need to bleed the breaks because that's exactly what I need to do 😂 along with this video too
I love you
You should thinking about a GoPro with a head mount or a harness that'll go on your chest so we can see over your hands
What is that tool called?
Hi Jonathan,
It's the Lisle 45100 Brake Spring Tool
amzn.to/2V7aOgs
or the other one is the Lisle 48400 Brake Clip Tool
amzn.to/2Hbprf2
Thanks for watching!
-Dan the Fix it Man
@@DantheFixitMan Wow. Thanks for including an easy way to get those useful tools. I'm sure the ferrel brake line wrench will be there too!
hi there. I ended up changing my rear brakes on my 98 Honda accord and I ended up getting the drums smooth out but for some reason I still hear a noise on the rear right could it be something that I'm missing a friend of mine told me I might need to check the rotor
No, there's no rotor when you have drums in the back. It could be the wheel bearing, or maybe the brake shoes aren't set properly. I would lift the vehicle and spin that wheel while listening closely for the noise. Then take off the wheel and spin the drum. Then take the drum off and see if you can find the source of the noise. Good luck!
Thanks for watching!
-Dan the Fix it Man
Is that the correct wheel cylinder? It has a different shape for the brake line compared to the stock
Great Question, I just re-watched that part of the video, and it looks like I was holding the new one upside down compared to how I took out the old one. The bleeder screw also may have been slightly different, but it worked great at the time of installation.
Thanks for watching!
-Dan the Fix it Man
I wish I knew which metric bolts to use in the threaded holes of the brake drums, to aid in removal of the drums! I guess I will look for some elsewhere on the car that will thread into those holes and try those or go buy two the same size.
Use metric 1.25 x 8 full thread bolts 40 MM long
@@billjones2271 Thank you!
Great Job with the Video but should u bleed the brakes ?????
Yes you should.... He even said so....
What thread and sized bolts do we need to help remove the drum?
Use metric 1.25 x 8 full thread bolts 40 MM long
+Dan the Fix it Man. Hi Dan, I hired a Mechanic my Daughter has known for years, to come over & replace the Rear Drum's & Shoes on my grandson's 1998 Honda Accord LX. This is the 2nd time the Rear's have been done. At any rate, after this guy finished, he didn't take it for a test drive because he had to finish working on his truck, so I did. Since I live a mile away & my grandson was meeting at my house, I txt him & then called him to tell him now the Brake Pedal is mushy &Travel's almost to the floor. When I made the parts list, I didn't put Wheel Cylinders on the list, mainly because I did forget but there were no leaks showing on either side & I never thought about them maybe leaking internally. However, when he was replacing the rear's, the Wheel Cylinder on the left side, end popped off on the Cylinder. Although only a small amount of oil dripped out of the Cylinder, the oil did do that & like I mentioned before, after he buttoned up the rear Brakes, I drove it & yep, it was no where near the condition that it was prior to him repairing the vehicle. Now I'm thinking that one or both of the Wheel Cylinder's could be Leaking Internally which is probably why he has almost no Pedal left... Does this sound correct? I'm super pissed at this mechanic for not even returning my txt or calls & leaving a half finished project that could have a bad turnout Now I'm hoping I can change out the Wheel Cylinder's without having to remove any of the new Brake Shoe's, the Adjuster or any Springs...... Your advice would really help, Dan
If one of the wheel cylinder popped out, there would be air in the system for sure. You can try bleeding the air out first, and if it still feels soft, you may need to replace that wheel cylinder (and bleed the brakes again). I think you could probably replace that wheel cylinder without removing the shoes or springs. I haven’t tried it though on that vehicle. Also, just make sure you clean any brake fluid off the brake shoes before putting it back together.
Best of luck to you!
-Dan the Fix it Man
Just to be on the safe side, I did buy 2 new Wheel Cylinders Sunday at an Auto Zone by the house, although they were not OEM parts & the Shoe's & Drum's were all replacements from about 75 to 80K miles. Yep, the left rear had air in the line & the Wheel Cylinder, under one of the Seals had Brake Fluid starting to build up, so the oil would have dripped onto the rear Shoe. There was also a small tear on that same seal, so it would have had to be changed anyway. On the 98 Honda accord, there's a lot of room to pry the Shoes back enough to pop out the Wheel Cylinder, on either side, just as easy. $30 for the 2 Wheel Cylinders, just made sense anyway's to change them & yes, I did clean off the Shoe's prior to putting the new parts on because I did see a spot where Fluid had dripped on the rear Shoe. I just didn't notice it when I removed the Drum. Thanks for the great upload & also for getting back with me so soon.
If one of the wheel cylinder ends pops off....it automatically gets air In the system therefore brakes need to be bled always. Shame on the mechanic. Rushing for his own benefit leaving you folks in a safety situation. Sorry, there's no excuse. Recommend an other technician.
Great video I have to do this tomorrow..
Thank you,
I wish you the best of luck and hope all goes well.
Take care,
-Dan the Fix it Man
Do you have to bleed the brakes
You only have to bleed the brakes if you replace the wheel cylinders or if while replacing the brake shoes, the wheel cylinder pops off while pulling on the springs.