Kyle’s Corner (FYI) Saving money replacing vehicle brake shoes

March 24, 11:16 AMAutomotive ExaminerKyle Busch

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The replacement of drum brake shoes can only be done on the rear two wheels
of some vehicle. And because the job is a bit tedious, it is good that it is limited
to just the two wheels. If your vehicle his disc brake pads at all four wheels,
you know what to do to replace the brake pads from my previous article!

First off, the following are some tools that you will need to complete the job:

1. Lug wrench for removing your vehicle’s tires
2. Hammer
3. Pliers (Needle Nose, Standard and Channel Lock) depending on your vehicle. One type of plier may make it easier to remove certain hardware bits.
4. Straight edge screwdriver
5. Brake Parts Cleaner
6. Spray Penetrating Oil
7. Jackstands
8. Jack (prefer floor jack)
9. Maintenance Repair Manual (optional)

Safety first, so make sure that you have your jackstands ready to use. Break the lug nuts loose on one of your rear tires before you jack that side up. It’s always easier to break the lugs loose first before jacking.

Jack up that side of the vehicle until the tire clears the ground and then place a jack stand under the frame of your vehicle. You broke the lug nuts loose while the vehicle was still on the ground, so they should be pretty easy to remove. Remove them from the bottom up, leaving the top lug nut to be removed last. This keeps the wheel in one place while you remove the rest of the lug nuts, and makes it easier to safely catch the wheel once you remove the last nut.

Now that the tire is off, you will be removing the brake drum. More than likely it will present some challenge to remove, so first off, go ahead and spray some of the penetrating oil around each of the studs and also around the center lip where the brake drum fits onto the axle stub. While that’s sitting for a bit, go ahead and look around to the back side of the backing plate and remove the rubber plug for access to the star adjuster and back off the brake shoes a few turns. This may not need to be done but I’ve always found it a bit easier to remove the drum if there is no friction of the brake shoes against the inside of the drum. Now, if the drum doesn’t slide off with a little jiggling, take the hammer and tap around the rear edge of the brake drum. It should break loose without too much difficulty

.Okay, now the drum is off and you look and see quite a few different springs and such. That’s why you only want to do one side of your vehicle at a time. You can use the other side as a reference as to what springs and hardware go where. It can be a good idea to have a piece of paper and pen handy to write down what spring, etc. that you took off first, second, etc. or to note how a piece of brake component fits. Also, consider using a marker to mark the holes for a specific spring. The first spring holes could be marked 1 and 2. The second spring holes could be marked 3 and 4, etc.

Now, you can remove the return and parking brake actuator springs that you’ll find and also remove the actuator between the two brake shoes. Here is where the different types of pliers will come in handy because these springs can be a bit of a challenge at times, so different types of pliers may work better than others on certain vehicles.

You’ll see that each brake shoe has two hold down springs and clips. Remove those. At this point you should be able to remove the brake shoe adjuster. Clean the adjuster and all the other hardware off well with some brake cleaner and inspect them. If you see anything that looks broken, bent or out of place you may want to verify it against the other side of the vehicle. If in fact there are bent or broken parts, then a trip to the auto parts store will be needed. After the adjuster has been cleaned, then lubricate the threads well with some high temp brake grease.

Okay, all the parts have been removed from the backing plate so here’s where you’ll need a good spray of the brake parts cleaner and some rags and maybe even a wire brush. You’ll want to clean all around the area and get everything nice and clean. It will make things easier for reassembly. Also, take a look at the rubber boots on each side of the wheel cylinder. These have a habit of leaking and if yours are, then you’ll need to replace them. If needed, Auto parts stores such as Auto Zone or Advance Auto can help you with these parts.

Turn your attention now to all the areas that the brake shoes contacted and apply a small bit of high temp brake grease. Reassembly is the exact opposite of disassembly making sure that all the springs go back in the same holes that they were removed from. Again, look at all the contact points and rotating points and apply some brake grease. Throughout all the reassembly process you’ll need to make absolute certain that you keep the brake shoe lining very clean and grease free.

It’s time to put the brake drum back on and you may find that you need to back off on the brake shoe star adjuster a few turns because of the thickness of the brand new brake shoe lining. For an initial adjustment of your brake shoes you’ll want to turn the star adjuster just until you feel some resistance against the brake drum as you spin the drum. Now, it’s time to work on the other side.

More than likely, your vehicle has what is called self adjusting brakes, so by driving the vehicle in reverse at a slow speed and gently applying the brakes, the brake shoes should adjust themselves to a proper adjustment.

See the included slideshow to better visualize the rear brake shoe replacement!

Replacing the brake pads on a disc brake system is generally easier than replacing rear brake shoes. Therefore, when you buy a vehicle, if you have a choice between the two brake systems, choice disc brakes at all four wheels.

Kyle Busch is the author of “Drive the Best for the Price…” He
welcomes your comments or car questions at his auto web site:
www.DriveTheBestBook.com.