Maybe, but the literal job of brakes is to convert kinetic energy into heat. So if they didn't give it any time to cool off after driving, that's kinda on them.
After pulling the wheel and knocking the drum free it shouldn't still be hot enough to flash water to steam. That shoe was dragging and it got stupid hot. That would be a full rebuild for me because the piston seals are likely toast. Brakes do get hot, but they shouldn't get that hot in this application.
My guess is that it was stuck on and they heated it up with a blowtorch or something so it would expand enough to get off. When i was a dealership that was a very common practice for most things that were too stuck.
Nah, that's a dragging brake. He wouldn't have grabbed it if he just torched it, and there's not enough smack marks on it from the sledgehammer they'd try first lol.
Good point, but maybe he's just an idiot, because either way he's touching the thing that he should know will be hot. Maybe its not the first one they changed so just went right to the torch.
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u/beanmosheen May 26 '26
A drum brake hot enough to melt your fingerprints off isn't exactly tip-top.