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Drum Brake Pulsation

2K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  fisherju3800 
#1 ·
I have a 2006 Malibu LS (2.2L) with front disk and rear drum brakes. A year or 2 ago, I replaced the front pads and rotors because of grinding noise and vibration. The braking performance improved and grinding was fixed; however there still was some pulsation. I thought maybe I had a bad set of rotors. I took them off and had them checked at NAPA where I bought them. Everything was true with no warping.

Fast forward to this past couple weeks: Braking pulsation was still about the same. It would get worse as the brakes heated up and seemed to come from the rear of the car (Steering wheel not really shaking). It sometimes was really bad when braking from a highway speed.

A few weeks ago, the brake pedal feel seemed to change and the car didn't stop as well, so I decided to look into the rears. Pulled everything apart and found the driver's side wheel cylinder was leaking. I replaced both wheel cylinders, retractor springs, brake shoes, drums, and adjuster springs. The brake pedal feel issue was resolved and braking performance restored; however, it still pulsates!

Has anyone ever experienced this before? Is there something inherent with the rear drum brakes that just make them pulsate (They do seem to be a very "economy" design)? Do I need to somehow center the drums? I did notice that when the car was up on jackstands, the rear drums would spin mostly free, but always had one spot where the brake shoe rubbed. Is there a simple conversion to disc brakes?
 
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#2 ·
Check out posts from member @RalphP. I believe that he has either done a similar conversion or has posted about it extensively.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Thanks for the suggestion. Reading through the posts about disc brake conversion, it seems like they were all referring to Generation 5 Malibus with the strut in the rear. My Malibu is an '06 and does not have struts. The spindle already has mounting holes for a disc brake caliper, but I'm not sure how the other parts would fit up (rotor, dust shield, & parking brake cable). I also would be concerned about the master cylinder being different and giving rear discs in the back too much power.
 
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