I wasn't even aware that brake drums could be out of round but, that's what the dealership says is wrong with my car.
They quoted me $275...and I said "hahaha...you gotta be kidding me"
So I'm picking the car up and doing it myself. But like I said I didn't even know that could happen with drums.
So where do I take them to be resurfaced? Do autoparts stores do those like they do rotors?
If all else fails I can just replace pads and shoes with brand new for around 100 bucks but if resurfacing is an option I'd like to try that first. Money's a bit tight with the holidays.

 

i have never heard of that happening myself.. how is that possible

 

Try NAPA. They know various machine shops that do it and can subcontract your work out.

 

Not a clue. I'd like to know also.

 

If the drums are really hot and you apply the parking brake hard, the shoes can sort of "spread" the drums and make them out of round.

 

any autoparts store that turns rotors will turn drums as well

 

Good to know

 

what is the problem with it that they said they are out of round?

 

^ this. napa is the ****.

 

It's not so much they get out of round as they they might wear uneven or you could grind them. personally... if it got to that, I wouldn't pay to get them ground.

Brake Performance

You can get 2 brand new drums for $80 and it's free shipping. I ordered all my brake components from this company and they are phenomenal.

 

Pulsing, shaking, roaring noise when braking at highway speeds. I replaced rotors and pads cuz that's what I thought it was. I brought it to them so I'm assuming they inspected them.

 

I will certainly keep that in mind. When I get the car back I'll see how bad it is and determine what needs to be done. Thanks.

 

Well, I picked up the car and the problem is completely gone.
So I have a few theories.

1. When they adjusted the shoes after taking the drum off they fixed the problem, meaning that the drums weren't out of round, the shoes simply needed adjusting(unbeknownst to them as they didn't test drive it again after they put it back together when I told them not to fix it).

2. They resurfaced the drum before asking me if I was ok with paying for it and screwed themselves when I said no.

3. They knew the drums were fine and were just trying to get money out of me.

Oh well...whatever the explaination, it's fixed and that's all that matters to me.

Such a relief. I've been chasing down problem after problem for almost a year and FINALLY everything on the car is working as it's supposed to. Knock on wood.

 

Sound like what happened to me. I actually had the same problems except I asked them to resurface to later find out they didn't and got my money back.

If the problem comes back, have them check your brake lines to see if they are collapsing. My mechanic who finally found the problem said he had heard of it happening to cobalts before..

 

haha, How'd you manage to prove that one?

 

I was out of state... but when I went to go and check my rear drums I noticed they still had the metal locks that they screw onto the lugs during production thus proving they never removed anything let alone serviced my brakes and cut the drums. When I told them what I found, the guy immediately offered to cut a refund check. Apparently I stumbled onto something that did not surprise him.

 

Brake drums are one part of a brake system that are just about bulletproof... unless you ride your brake pedal on the interstate, you should never have to worry about drums wearing out. My last Cavalier had almost 150,000 on the rear drums and they were still in spec... when my car goes to the shop, i am right there with it, even my old Beretta. Also, replacing brake drums on a Cobalt is pretty cheap... it's not a high cost item by any stretch.

i hate it when garages try to screw people.