Putting new drums and new pads on today...... Can't get the drums to slide over the brake shoes / pads! Yes, I bled the wheel cylinder to get the shoes to pull in as far as they will, and I have the adjuster set in as far as it will go too. If I turn the drum as I try to push it on, I can weasel it about halfway on, then it just gets too tight. The other side was tight too, but not this tight. What the hell!? Thanks! Heckler
Front or rears? I had this same problem on my '60 F100. I needed to adjust the parking brake cable, loosen it up and those drums should slip on.
Assuming the shoes are new or relined, there is usually a slight excess of shoe material thickness. This means the circumference, the O.D., of the drum is slightly smaller than the I.D. of the drum. Quite often it is necessary to do a bit of grinding on the steel end of the shoe. The part that fits into the wheel cylinder or adjuster. A little bit removed from each end. Center the shoes and pop them on. Of course, the adjusters must be backed off all the way.
I've noticed a lot of replacement shoes have lining that is a bit thicker than what standard thickness would be. That causes a problem when using new drums,shoes need to be arced/ground to fit the drums. Hard to find anyone that does that anymore. If there is a shop that does big truck relining near you see if they can arc the shoes. Quick way to tell if this is the problem is to put a shoe into the drum and if you can put a .003-.005 feeler gauge between the drum and lining in the center of the shoe that means the lining is too thick. What exactly ya working on ? drum diameter?
Flatheadguy, That's just the kind of tip I was looking for! I did this and it worked reasonably well, but everything is still dragging pretty hard. I found a place in town that will arc the shoes/pads to match the drums, so I',m going to do that. Thanks for all the advice! Heckler
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