My first suspicion would be mis-worn drums maybe? If the pads had ever worn down too far, they could have damaged the drums (cut groves in them) and caused the surface to become malformed. That would cause what you are talking about with the intermittent touching of the pads.

Also, your brake adjuster could be too tight as well. I'm not 100% familiar with the Corolla rear brakes and how they work precisely, but if the adjuster is too tight, it can cause rubbing.

I definitely would not suspect suspension causing brake rubbing - that really makes no sense to me. I will tell you though that my 2002 corolla makes rear brake noise whenever I apply the brakes. I can hear the squeezing of the pads, but it has never impacted performance nor do they rub during regular driving.

 

It's possible that your drums are out of round and the shoes are adjusted too tight.

It could possibly be the bearing but that usually sounds like a roaring noise that isn't intermitten and I have a feeling you'd know what bearing noise sounds like.

I wouldn't suspect suspension problems really because it's basically a strut/coil spring and control arm. Problems with teh suspension wouldn't really sound like that, not in the rear anyway.

The other thing to check is if there's something stuck between the shoe and the drum -- that happened with my car and it made similar sounds (was a washer that somehow got in the brake housing). A new drum, shoes and hardware kit fixed the problem.

 

thanks guys. so i took off the wheel and i did not see anything abnormal, but did not have time to take apart the brake. i just worked on disc brakes and have to learn about drum brakes. i think it's def something related to that. now it's pretty consistent, always on and increases with speed, and suddenly stops when the brakes are on, must be brake related, and it's almost right away dont have to wait for the car to get warm.
that mechanic had no clue, i will bring it back to him.
is it easy to take apart the whole thing? i just have such little time, i used to have an impreza RS and i worked on that awesome car all the time but drum brakes sound like prehistory to me

 

My advice would be to buy the Haynes repair manual for your car. I use it on mine and it's pretty detailed (or detailed enough) for taking apart/repairing literally everything in your car. It's only like 30 bucks and it's money well spent if you plan on doing your own maintenance. It definitely tells you how to take apart your brakes... I used it to replace my front brakes no problem.

 

You really don't need a repair manual for drum brakes and disc brakes are brainless. You can get instructions for how to put new shoes (and, for that matter, a new hardware kit) from your local AutoZone (I happen to work at one so that's why I suggest it... ) It's a good idea to have the repair manual if you intend on doing any other work on the car besides simple things like brakes, tune ups, oil changes, etc.

Anyway, it's not difficult to take apart and put together drum brake assemblies. It's a good idea to take a photo of it assembled ahead of time just as a reference when putting it back together. It's not hard but there are a number of springs and clips that need to be put back properly.

Check the lining on the drums. It may be a good idea to just go ahead and replace them... should cost you less than $15 to get a set of shoes. While you're at it, replace the hardware (springs, clips and such). It's around $8 - $12 depending on where you go for a hardware kit for both wheels. Old hardware may look perfectly good but loses tension over time so changing the hardware could solve a lot of possible problems.

Check the wheel cylinder to be sure it's operating properly. Check for leaking brake fluid, deteriorated or missing dust boots, stuck pistons, etc. If you find anything like that, change the wheel cylinders (this will require bleeding the brake system which you may want to leave up to someone more experienced if you're not comfortable trying it yourself).

Check the return springs. Also check the adjuster and check if the parking brake cable is sticking (was a problem I had with mine last winter during 'snowmageddon'/'snowpocalypse'... a little lithium grease and the problem disappeared).

Be sure to pick up a drum brake tool kit. You should be able to borrow one from your local auto parts store.