Motoring Discussion > Rusting rear drums - normal after six months?	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: RattleandSmoke	Replies: 37

Mon 1 Nov 10 20:29   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - RattleandSmoke

My car was made late April 2010, I don't know the exact date but most the dashboard trim has a mid april date stamp on it. It was registered on the 7th of May 2010 but when I looked at the drums I discovered they have lots of surface rust on them. It is purely surface rust like a bright orange colour but is it normal to get like this so soon? The rest of the car still looked brand new underneath even the springs are spotless after 1400 hard city miles (e.g bump bump). The front discs look look spotless and are completly rust free. I am sure it is normal but never owned a new car before so I have no idea. Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Mon 1 Nov 10 at 20:29 Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 1 Nov 10 20:32   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Manatee

Pretty normal I'd say. They probably rust a bit quicker on a little used car since they'll spend more time wet ;-) Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 1 Nov 10 20:34   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - RattleandSmoke

But define little use? The brakes are used a hell of a lot more than many people that do three times as much milleage to me. If I drive 3 miles that is a hell of a lot of giving away and stopping at traffic lights. I do at least 10 miles a day and quite often more than that. In the last couple of weeks I have been doing 120 miles a week. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 1 Nov 10 20:34   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Bellboy

if that worries you look at the steel cage under the dash that supports everything that will be well rusty by now too its the law you know Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 1 Nov 10 20:37   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - RattleandSmoke

If it is normal and it is just a bit of harmless surface rust then it dosn't bother me at all, I was just surprised how these drums have gone a rusty colour when the rest of the car underneath is completly spotless. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 1 Nov 10 20:49   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - WillDeBeest

I'd have thought some surface rust on drums is virtually inevitable. At least a disc has the wearing surface on the outside, so the pads scrub it clean; the outside of the drum is just a container. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 1 Nov 10 20:52   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Baz

Drums are cast iron not the mild steel the rest of the car bodywork is made of. They don't need a protective coating - the surface rust in itself is inevitable. The drums will outlast the rest of the car! Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 1 Nov 10 21:08   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - -

Wheels off, good rub down with wire brush and sandpaper, coat of black Hammerite, they'll look good for years. All my cars get brake calipers, disc centres and drums treated in this way. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 1 Nov 10 21:29   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Bigtee

Ratts, Go put a can of water over your front brake disc then go have a cup of tea a sandwich and watch corrie for 1 hr, When you come back to the disc you will see rust! It's perfectly normal for your rear drums to look like that & as bellboy rightly says the front underframe is the same on most cars. As you drive behind other newer cars look at there back axles can you see the same colour? Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 1 Nov 10 23:09   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - henry k

>> Wheels off, good rub down with wire brush and sandpaper, coat of black Hammerite, they'll look good for years. >> >> All my cars get brake calipers, disc centres and drums treated in this way. >> I have adopted the Hammerite treatment since my Mondeo and the kids cars all came with alloys. The less spokes in the alloys the more it shows. Not a lot of effort to tidy things up and as gb says it lasts for years. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 1 Nov 10 23:15   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Stuu

A rusty Fiat. Tut tut. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 1 Nov 10 23:26   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Armel Coussine

You don't really have to worry about the brake drums Rattolo. They will wear out from the inside faster than they will rust away from the outside. When the two meet in the middle, the drums will vanish in a cloud of dust with a sound effect of distant train whistles and an odour of nectarines. The new ones you will then have to get will only cost about 20 quid though. No, what you really have to worry about is the front struts forcing their way through the tops of the suspension turrets over a speed bump. That makes a sort of very loud sproinging sort of noise and you lose all steering and braking, so crash immediately. Are there any rust spots on the turrets? Because if there are it could happen any moment... WUUURRGH! Oh, sorry, Halloweeen was yesterday I think. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 1 Nov 10 23:31   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Stuartli

I had to have the rear disks replaced on my former Bora (when it was nine years old) because they had built up rust on the surface and edges. Turns out that those who anticipate what is happening ahead and don't need to use their brakes as much as others means that the rear brakes don't get the serious use needed to keep the disks pristine and shiny...:-( Afterwards I kept using the handbrake when it was safe to keep the disk surfaces shiny enough to see your face in..... Last edited by: Stuartli on Mon 1 Nov 10 at 23:32 Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 1 Nov 10 23:37   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - RattleandSmoke

Stunorthants the sills have already gaved in but it dosn't matter because I filled them with PVA glue and newspaper, a page from the Times about this new band from Sweden called ABBA :). Back to 2010, the rest of the car is completly spotless which is why I was surprised about the lack of a coating of paint on the drums. Actually there is that minor scratch and my rear wheel trim is now scraped slightly :(. Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Mon 1 Nov 10 at 23:37 Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 00:13   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Stuu

Even a 25 year old Fiat would be spotless if it never went anywhere ;-) Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 00:18   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - RattleandSmoke

It does though!!. I had should have taken it a picture of it the other day, it was more brown than blue it had mud all over it. In fact the plastic under the wheel arch is full of mud (need to hose that out). And yep I think 1985 was the year FIAT started to galvanise their cars. Its why you don't see any rusty Puntos although the higher milleage early ones are rusting underneath now but after 100k and 15 years on a small car that is to be expected. Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 12:17   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Stuartli

>>And yep I think 1985 was the year FIAT started to galvanise their cars.>> It harks back to 1975 when Fiat and Saab collaborated to produce a compact luxury hatchback under the Lancia name (Delta) and Saab-Lancia 600; it was launched in late 1979 at the time when Fiat was beaten by GM to the ownership of Saab. This Italian/Swedish partnership also resulted in Fiat participating in developing new methods of rustproofing vehicles with the aid of Saab and first used on the Delta and Saab-Lancia 600. Last edited by: Stuartli on Tue 2 Nov 10 at 12:18 Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 10:41   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - L'escargot

>> It was registered on >> the 7th of May 2010 but when I looked at the drums I discovered they >> have lots of surface rust on them. Outside or inside? Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 11:10   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - WillDeBeest

Regarding Stuart's and GB's comments, my 2002 Volvo had its original rear discs replaced last week because of rust-induced scoring (got quite a stern advisory on the MoT because of that). I noticed that on the new discs, the subsidiary drum that contains the handbrake shoes has a coating of smooth black stuff, presumably to stave off the kind of surface rust that's worrying Rattle. The old ones were uncoated but the surface corrosion was very slight. Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 12:19   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - madf

My 7 year Yaris rear drums are spotless with no rust.. Hammerite. Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 12:24   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Bellboy

of course putting paint on drums slows down the coefficient of the ability to allow the drums to cool down in a hot hot situation this is why quality drums like ladas had vanes on them Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 12:42   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Cliff Pope

>> slows down the coefficient of the ability to allow >> the drums to cool down in a hot hot situation >> That's a scientific expession I take it? Surely they ought to be matt black to maximise heat loss? Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 12:50   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - bathtub tom

>>Surely they ought to be matt black to maximise heat loss? Or finned like my mate's Lambretta. I followed him round a corner that he took too tight and watched as he took every one off on the kerb-stone. ;>) Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 12:52   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - madf

Being a physicist, I painted mine ... matt black... Rust is not a great conductor of heat. I had a Rover 16 with drums all round. Going down steep hills made a very interesting experience: the smell of very hot linings and even hotter drums... Brake fade is not amusing... Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 15:53   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Boxsterboy

Never mind the rust - I'm amazed that you can still buy a car with drum brakes, even on the rear! The only car in our stable with rear drums is my old 2CV. Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 19:07   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - hobby

Plenty still around... after all a citycar or super mini doesn't need the stopping power of a porche so whats the point of discs all round? Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 20:55   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Stuartli

Around 70 per cent of braking is done by the front wheels..... Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 20:59   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Bellboy

not in maccy dees on a saturday night its not Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 21:05   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - RattleandSmoke

It weighs 850kg and has a top speed of around 93mph. Believe me the brakes are more than good enough. It is also only a four seater. Most sub £10k cars still have drums on the rear. Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 23:52   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Stuartli

>>Believe me the brakes are more than good enough>> Something that was never the case with the Regata models....:-( Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 3 Nov 10 10:31   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Bagpuss

>> It weighs 850kg Think you'll find it's more like 950 - 1,000kg. Sadly even small cars these days weigh around a ton. Still doesn't need disc brakes at the back though. The original Panda weighed between 700 and 800kg. I had one, a late Mark 1 with the hammock seats, 750cc pushrod engine and negligible interior trim. A great utility car and had the advantage of getting lighter the longer we owned it due to chronic rust of the doors, sills, roof and pretty much everywhere else. The underside was sound though as what little oil didn't go through the worn valve guides and piston rings got liberally sprayed across the floorpan. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 3 Nov 10 10:44   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - nice but dim

>>not in maccy dees on a saturday night its not >> that's tickled me that bb....cant stop laughing! Last edited by: nice but dim on Wed 3 Nov 10 at 10:49 Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 21:09   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Iffy

...rear drums is my old 2CV... Inboard rear drums, as I recall. Long and complicated job to change the shoes, but on t'other hand, they lasted many, many, miles. Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 23:02   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Armel Coussine

>> Inboard rear drums, as I recall. Harrumph. Call that recall iffy? FRONT, man, FRONT! Or did you have one of those twin-engined 4wd 2cv desert racers (and learn the double back-to-front gearchange technique?) Tchah! Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 2 Nov 10 23:23   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Iffy

...Harrumph. Call that recall iffy?... You're right, of course. Inboard drums on the front, as in the gearbox/engine end of the driveshaft. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 3 Nov 10 10:16   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Boxsterboy

Mine is one of the later ones with inboard discs at the front, but yes they have minimal use due to the light weight of the car. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 3 Nov 10 13:14   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - Armel Coussine

Even early Dyanes had drum brakes though. But I don't understand iffy's claim that they were hard to work on. Access was good and the drums could just be left hanging on the driveshaft. Of course no one in their right mind actually enjoys replacing brake shoes, but there was nothing especially difficult about 2CV ones. There is a drawback to inboard brakes especially if (like me when I had such cars) you are a very heavy-footed driver. It is that wear and stress on the CV joints is much greater than it would be with outboard brakes. I once broke a driveshaft in the Dyane by running through a pothole while braking heavily. It was most inconvenient although I was in France at the time. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 3 Nov 10 07:49   Rusting rear drums - normal after six months? - L'escargot

>> I am sure it is normal but never owned a new car before so I >> have no idea. >> Go in a carpark and look at similar cars. Reply to this message | Report message