Drum brake installation troubles...

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Yup. I always think of it this way, brake shoes are like a mullet, short in the front long in the rear.

So what you are telling me is that either long shoe or either short shoe won't work on one side or the other. If you are thinking about the e brake lever I have always had to take it off the old shoe and put it on the new. I have never bought a set of shoes with that on there.

I guess I must be confused here, becuase in close to 40 years of working on these I have never known they were right or left side specific. I have always made sure the long shoe was in the rear and the short in the front. Other than that.......
 
I believe he said he has the short shoe to the front, and that is correct. IS IT POSSIBLE that the backing plates, 9, 10, 11, don't match the shoe/ drum combo you are trying to use? Having the wrong backing plate would put the wheel cylinder and anchor pin holes the wrong radius from the center of the axle.

I disagree that these are put together incorrectly, so long as the short lining is to the front
 
The primary shoe goes to the front.(short shoe) The shoes are not side specific. If You're only having problems in the rear it's usually e-brake related.
If the shoes are tight to the pivot pin on the top and tight against the collapsed adjuster on the bottom the drum should slide on. (if the shoes and the drum are correct.) Grab your tape measure and measure the shoes and the drum diameter. The drums should be slightly larger of course.
 
The photos you linked were of the rear. Is that the only ones your having trouble with? The strut that connects both shoes just below the wheel cylinder should darn near be touching the rear shoe (below the rear spring) Your photos show a good sized gap where the other photos are almost touching. Something isn't right with the e-brake. Your intermediate cable can be loose but the cable that enters the backing plate can be seized.
 
ytownxj said:
http://s1133.photobucket.com/albums/m597/spmccor/?action=view&current=IMG_3324.jpg
Click to expand...

Here, let me "fix" this thing:

IMG_3324.jpg


toolmanmike said:
The strut that connects both shoes just below the wheel cylinder should darn near be touching the rear shoe (below the rear spring) Your photos show a good sized gap where the other photos are almost touching. Something isn't right with the e-brake. Your intermediate cable can be loose but the cable that enters the backing plate can be seized.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I agree. The two points that determine whether the shoes are "in" are that the tops should both be in contact with the top anchor pin, and the bottom, the adjuster all the way in, and obviously the shoes are against the adjuster. ANY possibility he has the wrong adjuster?
 
I think we are in violent agreement, short (primary) shoe in front. It was his rear shoe that looked wrong to me, not the front shoe. Originally it looked like his rear shoe was also a primary (short shoe), but after going back and looking at his pics it does appear to be a secondary (longer shoe) on the back. I edited my original post to clarify my point.

Now were strait on that issue...I still stand by my point that another possible problem could be a mixture of 9" and 10" brake parts (see my orinal post). But I guess we will need to wait for OP to give us the low down on what he finds.

I agree that e-brake strut does not look correct. Also, his e-brake strut is not flat, it looks to have an L-shaped lip facing the axle. Is that correct?
 
67Dart273 said:
Here, let me "fix" this thing:
Click to expand...

Thank you...that makes it much easier to compare.

Top picture is of Ytownxj (OP) brakes that are causing the problem.

Bottom picture is one I took of my original 10 X 2.5" brake set up (same side as OP).
 

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As stated by Redfish the T washer is upside down. It should ride on the underside of the shoes. But it wouldn't cause your problem.
 
The anchor pin plate is upside down. The parking brake strut doesn't look like it is fully engaged into the brake lever (may be just the shadow). The front (left) return spring looks to be the wrong diameter and length and should be installed in the hole just above the strut. The strut spring looks kinda funky, like it is on backwards maybe. The adjusting cable is installed backwards on the adjusting lever. My guess is all your problems are parking brake related mostly.
 
Hi Ytownxj, have you tried the old school method of checking to see if everything is seated by giving a couple of palm shots to each shoe side to side? This should center the shoes.
 
To determine if shoes are wrong or rite just set them in the drum one at a time. then check if the lining touches the drum surface top to bottom.9 and 10 inch radii are different. 10 inch in 9 inch drum will hit top and bottom and not center.
 
Demon 408 said:
Alright here we go...

Spring is wrong (front top). Also his adjuster look to be too long to me. Or am I seeing things again?
Click to expand...

That adjuster sure looks long to me, compared to the others.
 
daredevil said:
To determine if shoes are wrong or rite just set them in the drum one at a time. then check if the lining touches the drum surface top to bottom.9 and 10 inch radii are different. 10 inch in 9 inch drum will hit top and bottom and not center.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's possible to put 10" shoes into a 9" drum, and if he had 9" shoes and 10" drums it'd be a whole different problem.

But you have the right idea. You should be able to set the shoes into the drum and they should "fit" the contour of the diameter perfectly, or very very nearly so.
 
Providing all parts are correct, which they look like they are, I would suggest to the OP to remove the rear shoe and clamp some vise grips on the end of the cable and pull it firmly through the casing to make sure it's positioned properly. Also correct the upper left spring.

I will stick to what i said in the beginning that the e brake cable is slightly applied and creating the majority of his problem.

I guess we have to wait for the OP to clarify what he finds.
 
I'm going to switch that spring and see if I can't get it to sit better tomorrow, thanks for all the replies I'll let everyone know what I find tomorrow. My drums are 10" drums and I have installed 10" shoes
 
Pull that rear shoe off and see if you can pull the e brake cable into the brake area some more while your at it.
 
badsport said:
Pull that rear shoe off and see if you can pull the e brake cable into the brake area some more while your at it.
Click to expand...

All you need to do is look at the top anchor. Assuming the adjuster is correct, and is retracted, all you need to look for is that the two shoes are both in contact with the big anchor pin at the top.
 
Didn't have a chance to check today, it rained when I was home... sorry, i'll update tomorrow
 
ytownxj said:
I'm going to switch that spring and see if I can't get it to sit better tomorrow, thanks for all the replies I'll let everyone know what I find tomorrow. My drums are 10" drums and I have installed 10" shoes
Click to expand...

Good luck on that, the new spring has a much shorter straight part than the older ones pictured. Youll never get that spring to reach the original hole. Not an issue, just a revision of a spring.
 
I have taken my drums apart and set them back up and can't find anything obvious to make them tighter, pishta is right, the spring can only go that way. Just set up different from the original. Checked the adjuster against the original and they are exactly the same size despite it looking larger in the picture. The shoes are the same size and curvature as well. I'm really stumped and thinking about just turning the drum. I'm thinking quality control may just have been lacking on my set
 
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