Front brake help

[mike11743]

Does anyone have front drum brakes that work. Ever since I got my 01 blaster, the front brakes were really hard to pull. It feels like im going to snap the cables every time I pull the brakes. They will slow me down, but wont stop me completely even when pulled in all the way. All the cables are new, the pads are decent, and everything is super clean inside the drum. Is this just the nature of the blaster drum brakes. Ive seen guys while im out riding doing endos on older blasters before, so I know their front brakes work good, but maybe they have hydro front brakes. Does anyone on here have good front brakes, and if so, how do you keep them working good?

 

[djack12]

my drum breaks works great. i could endo if i wanted to. have you tried adjusting them at all?

i have now switched to hydros, cause i got them in a trade.

 

[Unstock240]

Maybe the pin that rotates and spreads the pads inside the drum needs greased. If you can pull the lever on the drum where the cable hooks by hand, then its the hand lever or cable. My pads are about time to be replaced and I can stop really well as well. Spray lithium grease in all the cable housings to maybe free it up.

 

[electricguitarlover21]

Yeah, check under the hood, make sure the cables are routed pretty straight, if they're twisted it makes mine weird to pull, and like suggested earlier, make sure they're adjusted right, cause mine was doing the same, so i got new motion pro cables, and adjusted them, and everything worked great. but it's time for me to get new pads too, haha. i'm afraid mine will go out one of these days!

 

[mike11743]

I just had all the cables off, and they moved fine. Just to be sure, i lubed them up really good. I also cleaned the inside of the drums, and cleaned off the pads themselves, and oiled all the springs and stuff on the outside of the drum. I did put a little bit of oil on that pin that someone mentioned. I guess my next step will be to dissemble the pads and clean the backing blate, and clean off the pin. Maybe something is all rusty there and dosent want to move.

 

[MXsandracer]

if u havent already, check the little box where the cable splits to make sure it isnt twisted/corroded. that was my issue..

 

[cwright#26]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the drum designed sucked! If you could find a '03 and up conversion kit you'd be happier

 

[djack12]

well i have the 03 hydros now and they are nice and look better, but my drums bit just as good.

dont get me wrong its a nice upgrade, but i wouldnt spend over $200.00 on it if your drums work well.

 

[axlehawk02]

my drums used to bite well when i bought it like 2 months ago. but now every time i go out i have to adjust them!
i was adjusting the cable on the handle bar then i maxed it out there and it still kept gettin loose to the point of not working after a 2 hr ride. so i just learned how to adjust the bar ever on the drums themselves by moving forward on the splines. it works beter but i still have the loss of breaks after a good ride.
AM i just pulling on the breaks too hard and stretching the cables? if you understand plz help

 

[ttownterror]

if your still having trouble with your drums try this its what i did and now i they work great. adjust the bar adjuster all the way in then adjust they drum adjuster out ( i had to adjust mine all the way out at the drum before i got new pads ) (( i got my pads at a honda shop and they were 15$ cheaper than the yamaha dealer and they had them in stock and cost me 19$ a side )) then open up your splitter and lift it by hand so that its easyer to adjust the bar cable my splitter was about 1/4 inch from the bottom before it was good... i think what the prob is that there is so much play in the splitter that when you adjust the bar cable it just gets the cable tight above the splitter. you dont want the lever lose or sloppy it needs to be tight. hope this helps if ya need more help just post up... make sure you lube inside the splitter really good

 

[stephen12091985]

yea like someone metioned already try adjusting them on the drum part with the wing nut

 

[xmous3yx]

my drum brakes work fine but they sometimes do this weird thing where they lock up and squeek and rattle the sh*t outta my handle bars. i changed my drum shoes and lubed everything inside. and it still does it. but only after i wash it or go through rivers. idk if this helps u just thought like sharing my drum brakes problems with u, to make u feel better about urs lol. best bet would be hydro investment. thats wat im looking into.

 

[axlehawk02]

yea i was thinkin about adjusting the handlebars loose and picking up the slack at the drums. but thanks for the idea of adjusting the splitter too