110 brake conundrum

[3wheeledjunkie]

When i first got my 110, the brakes were worn out (adjusted all the way). So i put new shoes on, greased seals, anitseazed the cam. Well, about 3 months in, I noticed weak brakes, and adjusting the cable up top did nothing. SO I adjusted the cable down low, right behind the tire, where the foot and hand connect. This worked for awhile but now I have nothing, foot goes flat, and t hand brake has no freeplay, can squeeze in only 1/2 way, it's really stiff. Unhooked adjuters at the cam and pushed it in all the way, nothing. Hadn't noticed any squeeking or dragging. It's like I was riding and the cable broke or something. Any ideas, gonna pull it apart this weekend if it's pretty like it's suppose to be.

[Vealmonkey]

Make sure your brake cables are well lubed, your cable or cables could be hanging up in their sheaths.

[3wheeledjunkie]

I have lubed every conceivable place I could. Cam returns to correct position everytime, no hang-up's. Just seems like pads wore prematurely. But like I said, nothing seems loose bearing wise, and no dragging. The stiff handle didn't turn up till after I adjusted the bottom adjuster. I did find when it first dropped into the teens, water inside the drum had frozen and locked the rear end up. Thinking the seal around the axle (center drum cover seal) is bad. May have let water in the last time we were at Big Rock.

[riverrat]

You probably have the same problem I have. Once the drum seals go, and some mud/water gets in there, the inside of the drum rusts. It acts like an abrasive on the pads, and they wear out in no time.
I put my drum on the axle backwards, and spun the axle with the motor, while holding a grinder stone on a drill, and cleaned it up. This helped, but I still go through pads very quick.
The only right solution is to get another drum brand new. Last I checked they were $110. Makes me want to just convert to disc brakes, but that ain't easy either.

I actually drove the thing without brakes for like 15 years. Just going on 2 wheels, and downshifting was enough.

[Dirtcrasher]

If I had something with the same splines, I imagine I could turn it on the lathe fairly smooth........

Unless that makes the drum too large to work properly....

Plus two on the cables, that dam 250SX and the foot and lever cable - I could never get the 2 of them happy so GOODBYE lever cable and I just run the foot cable now

I wasn't gonna spend 30$ in cables when I could just lube the foot cable up and with a disc brake front, the SX was all set...........

[riverrat]

Your going to have to measure. On mine, the drum is already too large to work properly. There is no adjustment, just the cam, and that really doesn't have that much adjustment in it. Probably only enough to compensate the wear of the pads. Most likely once the drum is worn even just a little, the correct thing to do is to replace it. Then you would get the full life out of your brakes. My first set lasted many years. Just remember to maintenance the drum seals once a year, or after a water/mud ride.

Disk brakes would be so much better. If there is an easy/cheap conversion, someone let me know.