DSDP Don wrote:
Hold on guys, first, most of you are talking about car brakes, not air drum brakes, which the OP has. Per his pictures, you can see that a drum brake on a diesel pusher is open in the back and has no backing plate.
Question? Do you routinely use your exhasut brake, even in town/traffic. If you do, it can glaze your brake shoes. This happens because you're infrequently using the brake pedal and the drums lightly skim over the linings, essentially polishing them. After awhile they glaze over and will squeal.
Take the coach out by yourself, find a quiet road, run the coach up to about 45-50mph and STAND on the brakes. Do this 2-3 times. You may find that the squeal goes away or is substantially reduced. The other option is to pull the drums, turn them and do a qick sand on the linings to rough them up.
If you are using the exhaust brake excessively, quit doing so. It should be used on grades and hard stops, but not for everyday stopping in traffic or around town. Guys are so worried about saving their brake linings, they over use the exhaust/engine brake.
Sorry, my bad; Don has it here!
