94 Drum Brakes Shoe Question

[KridVT]

Hello! I have a real quick embarassing question.

I recently replaced the rear shoes (drum brakes) so I could get the state safety inspection. I got signed off, but the mechanic said that I put the two primary shoes on the same side and the two secondary shoes on the same side. I told him I inspected the new shoes when I put them on and couldnt really notice a difference. He said maybe there isnt a primary and secondary then, but he wasnt sure.

I have been driving on it for two weeks now and havent noticed any problems .I even touched the drums after driving and neither feels to be hotter than the other. I was curious one day and inspected both sides. Instead of the adjuster showing the same amount of threads on both sides, one side shows the normal amount of threads (compared to what it was before I replaced the shoes), and the other side shows hardly any threads (i.e the adjuster is at minimum overall length). Is this evidence that the two primarys are on the same side?

Any suggestions? Please advise. I dread the possibility of having to remove those springs again. Thanks I apprecaite it!

 

[MrShorty]

If you look at the brake shoes closely, you will notice that two of the shoes have more brake material on them. Here's the page out of Chilton's from Autozone's site http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiB..._us/0900823d/80/0b/cc/15/0900823d800bcc15.jsp If you click on the top picture so you get a higher resolution, you can see that the brake shoe on the left has friction material over almost the whole shoe. The shoe on the right has about 1-2 inches near the top of the shoe before the friction material starts. I've never been quite clear which of those is the primary and which is the secondary, but there is a difference. I just did my rear brakes a couple of weaks ago (to get ready for safety inspection, too), but I don't remember off the top of my head how they were oriented.
After having done those brakes at least 4 times now (twice on the BII, twice on the Explorer), I'm getting pretty good at it. I've found it helps a lot if you get the spring removal tool.

And, one thought on the brake adjusters. Make sure they both work smoothly. When I take mine off, I completely dissassemble the adjuster screw, spray it with brake cleaner or something, and brush the threads clean with a wire brush. Then, when I reassemble the brakes, I make sure the adjuster mechanism works free and easy. It sounds to me like that one side may be sticky and not able to adjust itself.

 

[Brandons]

I put that high temperature grease on the adjuster too, also gotten pretty good at the rear brakes. Biggest mistake you can make or at least in my case was taking the emergency brake cable off the bracket in the drums. Couldnt get it back on at all.

 

[KridVT]

Thanks I appreciate the responses. It sounds to me that I did in fact screw it up and need to fix it. I dont believe I explained my point with the adjuster. The adjuster that is showing no threads, i.e it is at its shortest length, is because I cannot make it longer (i.e push the shoes away from each other) or the drum would not fit over the shoes.

Anyone have any thoughts on what would happen if I didnt fix it? haha.

 

[MrShorty]

Ok, so the adjuster issue seems related to the fact that one side has 2 primary shoes, and the other side has 2 secondary shoes.
A few possible consequences: 1) I wouldn't be surprised if the brakes wore unevenly if left as is. 2) I wouldn't be too surprised if one side "brakes" harder than the other. You've got more friction material on one side. 3) If there really is no room for adjustment on the one side, it's possible that it will drag. Which will create heat and other problems. There may be other possibilities, these were the three that came off the top of my head.
Whether or not these issues will create real safety issues, I'm not sure. IMO, brakes are one of those things you don't want to cut corners on for safety reasons. If it were me, I'd pull them apart and get them back together correctly.

 

[DeRocha]

 

[Tony H]

As far as your adjuster is concerned, it could just be that the Previous owner replaced a Drum at some point so it is thicker then the other side that you had to adjust out further.

Do yourself a favor and revisit the Brakes. Put the Shoe with more Pad Area to the back of the vehicle. Look at the top of the Shoes for this difference.