@160k I just had my mechanic replace the drum breaks (full drum replacement) and he suggested to go with an aftermarket drum/brake assembly. When I got the car back after the job I noticed a significant scraping sound from the rear when nearing a stop- similar to the metal-on-metal sound you hear when disc brake pads are 100% gone. I immediately took the car back and it was easy to reproduce the sound from both inside and outside the car by just pressing the brake pedal with the car in drive and letting it creep forward... He agreed to take the car back and take a look. Afterward he reported that everything inside the assembly was correct and nothing was wrong and that maybe the sound was just the metal needing to wear in, or that it was just a noisier brake than OEM. I've driven the car about 4k miles now and that scraping noise from the rear (both sides) is not going away at all... Is it possible he is right and the brakes are ok but whatever OEM drum assembly he went with is just very scrapy/noisy? It seem wrong since the amount of scraping sound is so significant, and sounds so much like "metal-on-metal" that I now I don't think I could ever discern if it ever did get to metal-on-metal in the from or the back over that noise!

 

I don't think you should have extreme noise from the rear brakes, and if anything was going to "wear in" it would have hopefully worn in by now. Maybe you could have someone help you make a recording as you roll by and then post that here for a better opinion.

If your mechanic thinks the brakes are fine and you don't, your only real option is to get them checked somewhere else and/or get them swapped again using OEM parts.

 

Take it back to the mechanic again. Like Drew said, it should have worn in by now. Whatever has been making the scraping noise should also be apparent by now - shiny spot(s) where the metal-on-metal contact is occurring. Make sure they check the dust traps around the rim of the drum and backing plate - that's where seemingly-compatible drums (based on their spec sheets) often hang up. An aftermarket drum manufacturer may have looked at the specs of two drums and mis-concluded they were close enough to sell as one part.

 

You shouldn’t hear scraping from the rear bake assembly. My guess is they adjusted your brakes too tight. I’d have someone else look at it.

 

It bothers me when a mechanic "recommends" something and, when it doesn't work out, all he knows is "maybe the sound" is . . . .