Tuesday Torque: Torque Goes Both Ways!

 It takes torque to stop or go, and you gotta pay attention to those brakes. Drum brakes are not much fun to work on, but it is necessary now and then, unless you trade for a new car regularly. It looks like twenty-seven years is about the life of a wheel cylinder, judging from the old Chevy and other cars I've worked on. A common failure in years past was to have a piston blow out of a brake cylinder, and that was back when all four wheels were on a single hydraulic circuit from the master cylinder. As brake shoes wore out, cars needed to have the adjustment taken up on the brake shoes, but people would neglect that, letting the brake pedal get closer and closer to the floor. Wait a little too long and a piston would pop out of the cylinder. Self adjusting brakes have made that problem a distant memory.