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Alright, a question I have. Whenever I shift between from park to drive or reverse (or between the latter two), the car shifts forward (or backward, depending) and I hear a kind of creaking (I think the brakes complaining). Is this normal in a car like the '66 with such a powerful engine and relatively weak drum brakes, or a potential sign of trouble?

Mine does the same thing I you are correct it is just the drums/shoes setting in

M

Okay. I've just never experienced that before, but never had a car with drum brakes, so I wasn't sure if I should be worried or not.

Years ago as a youngster I heard my dads car do that sitting at lights I asked what it was and he wasn't sure years later I learned exactly what it was 'brakes' back off the peddle just enough and the brakes will groan or creak as the car drifts slips forward ..... disc brake don't seem to do it.
Unlike disc drums self adjusting brakes need to be adjusted periodically especially if the (the car) sits a lot in damp humid climates they get sticky and wont adjust as they should, one thing that might help to keep them limber and some what adjusted.
Is to find an empty parking lot with lots of room (using extreme caution) do and over the shoulder backing maneuver at 15- 20-25 mph and hit the brake peddle multiple time i.e. brake release brake release brake release until your stopped this is when the brake adjuster are activated taking up the slake as the shoes ware if you don't do a lot of backing they get sloppy
Lastly don't back with your mirrors that just about the time some moron with drive or walk in behind you

Dracofrost wrote:Okay. I've just never experienced that before, but never had a car with drum brakes, so I wasn't sure if I should be worried or not.

It may be helpful to pull the drums and shoes to clean and lube the backing plates where the shoes contact the backing plate. Be careful, the shoes may contain asbestos. Be sure to use high temp grease specified for this purpose. Good luck.

The typical "soft" rubber control arm bushings exaggerate the effect. The soft rubber deflects under load and then the control arms kind of wobble around--allowing the body to move even though the tires don't rotate much at all.