[FireLikeIYA]

I have no experience with drum brakes. I have no clue how long they are good for and what to look for in terms of wear. I assumed last week that with 226K miles on the car that the shoes must be reaching the end of their life. I went on Ebay and bought the spring kits and new shoes. The last time I inspected the shoes was when the car had 100K miles on it. They didn't look too bad. When I started to replace the shoes after just buying all of the parts they looked almost the same as they did when the car had 100K on it. The rear facing shoes are about 5mm thick and the forward facing shoes at the thinnest part near the middle are 3mm thick. The specs in the maintenance manual give 5mm normal and 1 mm minimum. My question is, since I already have all of the parts and can't return them should I replace the shoes anyway? The manual says if the shoes show uneven wear to replace them... the rear facing shoes have even wear from top to bottom while the forward facing shoes are thicker on the ends and are thinner in the middle. The only issue that I have with the rear brakes is with the parking brake. I have the parking brake cable adjusted all the way and it will barely hold the car in place while in neutral. The shoes that I purchased are made by Wagner and being brand new are not even all the way across. They are also only 4mm thick. I am wondering if these are inferior to the stock shoes. Thanks for any advice.

 

[gdanaher]

The short answer is yes, of course. You have all the parts so take an afternoon and do the job. You might have to play around a little to get the shoes centered so the drum will go back on, and then you will need to adjust things to sit correctly and the parking brake has correct feel. I would take several pictures of the things before you disassemble anything, print them out and have them handy. It isn't all that complicated but since you are worried, take proper precautions.

 

[SoUtHsIde_ChI]

take a picture (YES!) before you start to disassemble or do one side at a time so that you have a reference point to look at. this will help with putting all the pieces back. Drums are tricky and putting every piece back exactly using a picture or leaving one side is key.

Good luck

 

[hardtopte72]

If the shoes are good (sound like they are) leave them be. Your long life likely stems from lack of proper adjustment.

To properly adjust the brakes after cleaning and lubing the backing plates you are going to need to reinstall the drum and turn the the adjuster by removing the plug and turning it from the front of the drum. I like to adjust them to where I can rotate the drum by hand until they turn about .75-1 full turn. Any more is loose any less may be too tight. After you adjust both drums reinstall the plug in the drum, install the wheels, and lower the car. Get inside and feel the parking brake. If it feels good actuate it 4-5 times to even out the shoes.

If it is still loose your cable is likely stretched and will need to be adjusted at the parking brake lever. If it is still loose the cable will likely need replacing.