MR> CA> I took my Lincoln to a local mechanic and told him "This is a
MR> CA> heavy car and it HAS to stop when I hit the brakes". My brakes
MR> CA> had gone out (to the floor) and I wanted that to NOT happen
MR> CA> again. I did not set a price nor ask for 'cheap'. I got the car
MR> CA> back and two weeks later driving home the same thing happened
MR> CA> _again_. I was furious but remained calm when I returned the
MR> CA> car and was told he had replaced everything _but_ the rear
MR> CA> cylinders which were both leaking fluid (profusely). I
MR> CA> instructed him to replace the cylinders, bill me for the parts,
MR> CA> but no additional labor which he did. So far the brakes have
MR> CA> been working but now I'm 'gun-shy' with very little confidence
MR> CA> the brakes will continue to work.

MR>Losing the brakes twice like that can be traumatizing indeed! Recall,
MR>GM has an historical problem with rear drum brakes. Many models were
MR>recalled because of too thin guage steel used for the backplate. The
MR>cylinders simply pop out of alignment because the backplate buckles.
MR>Rust just makes the problem worse. Replacing the cylinders alone is
MR>just a stop gap measure. There may be a hidden guarantee on the
MR>brake backplate if there was a recall. Check this out first thing.

 If you wil lNOTE he said it was a Lincoln. Doubt very much that GM will
 hidden gurantee their rear brake backing plates.  :-)  :-)
---
 þ SLMR 2.1a þ This note from El Cajon California USA