How to replace emergency brake shoes

[Rez]

excellent pictures, great job

[Fastmover]

Thank you DrgnWgn for excellent detailed instructions and crystal clear pics.

Mods, this most definitely should be stored in the Suspension & Wheels KB. It belongs with Junior's award winning Brake Pad replacement post.

Beans to mnunes for including it in his "How I do everything" guide.

[BrotherAndySLB]

Not trying to bring an old thread back to life.. but my brake shoes on the drivers side um.. well broke a couple days back while at a stop sign, big crunch than the car started driving fine. This morning on my way to work sounded like I had a flat tire and then crunch crunch.. then drove fine the rest of the way to work, and then leaving work a small clank I caught it that time def. rear drivers side.. so went to parts store bought rear brakes, and diff fluid. They would have to order anything else, When I got home and in the dark I pulled the drivers side tire, caliper, rotor and it all came out in peices, everything is in shreds.. the adjuster, and adjuster spring, and the two nail looking things where all that was left to the shoes.. I took it all off seeing as how I cant replace it now anyways since I have to order it all. Changed pads, put all back togethor with no E-Brake shoes. - Did the pass side, and they ebrake shoes on that side are fine... -weird LX problems.

[beirutbob]

Not trying to bring an old thread back to life.. but my brake shoes on the drivers side um.. well broke a couple days back while at a stop sign, big crunch than the car started driving fine. This morning on my way to work sounded like I had a flat tire and then crunch crunch.. then drove fine the rest of the way to work, and then leaving work a small clank I caught it that time def. rear drivers side.. so went to parts store bought rear brakes, and diff fluid. They would have to order anything else, When I got home and in the dark I pulled the drivers side tire, caliper, rotor and it all came out in peices, everything is in shreds.. the adjuster, and adjuster spring, and the two nail looking things where all that was left to the shoes.. I took it all off seeing as how I cant replace it now anyways since I have to order it all. Changed pads, put all back togethor with no E-Brake shoes. - Did the pass side, and they ebrake shoes on that side are fine... -weird LX problems.

Literally had the same thing happen to me a couple of weeks ago (drivers side as well). For me it was the pads coming off of the shoes and getting jammed up in the rotor. I just ended up pulling the parking brake parts off and ran without them until I got new shoes and hardware kit a couple of days later.

I did not pull the wheel bearing when putting in the new parts. That being said, those freakin retaining pins/clips are the work of the devil. I was cussing up a storm trying to get those things on. All in all, not a hard job, just a practice in frustration.

[BrotherAndySLB]

Yeah with it being dark out I couldn't see how to get the pins out so I cut them off so they wouldn't be hitting the rotor.

[Darwin]

I had the caliper-like adjustment tool. It's made by K-D tools and last I knew goes for somewhere around $40-$50 bucks (US). It's a very handy tool. Loosen the adjustment knob and slide the caliper arms until the outer, pointy, edges touch the inner edges of the drum. Tighten the adjustment knob, flip the caliper over and slide the inner, flat, edges over the shoes and adjust them until they touch the inner edges of the caliper arm. You're done adjusting. Quick and simple.

Any place that sells K-D Tools should either have it or be able to order it.

Makes me regret I had to sell all my tools a few years ago.

[vyper883]

nice write up. i never remove the hubs but that would make things a lot more accessible and slightly more time consuming.

also, anti-sieze paste is better to lubricate the adjuster threads and actuator levers. it won't melt and liquify like grease will. a thin coat of anti-sieze paste on the backing plate where the shoes contact and at the adjuster and actuator contact points will prevent squeak noise when park brake applied and released.

just remember if you remove the hubs, replace the axle nuts. they are not reuseable. axle nut P/N 06506263AA $10.40 cdn. (torque to 157 ft/lbs)

I agree.

For those of you who are wondering if this can be done easily without removing the spindle, yes it can be done. I just did the driver's side earlier tonight. Its a little bit trickier to engage the tension spring on the actuator side of the shoes, but if you hook the bottom end of the spring into it's hole first, you can use a pair of small pliers to grab the top of the spring to hook it's end into the hole of the top shoe.

Sometimes the hooks will catch the edge of the hole, but appear to be fully seated. Make sure the hooks are all the way in, by pushing them toward the hole with a flat bladed screwdriver, so the hooks grab the holes properly. You'll "feel" them click into place, if they weren't seated all the way.

If your parking brake shoes did not come with new springs, and the old ones are really rusted, go through the minor inconvienience of obtaining new ones. If the old ones break inside, you may end up having parts grind up against the inside surface of the rotor hat and cause binding, and damage.

[zonian]

Anyone got any advice for removing the drum?

The brake is not set, I removed the caliper, I removed lug clips, wailed on the damn thing with a BFH...no movement at alll...

Paul

[Montreal300]

Anyone got any advice for removing the drum?

The brake is not set, I removed the caliper, I removed lug clips, wailed on the damn thing with a BFH...no movement at alll...

Paul

I had a bitch of a time taking mine off as well. Did you back of the shoes with the star wheel? If you did, use some sand paper to clean up the hub as close to the drum as you can get then put some penetrating oil (not WD40) on the hub where it meets the drum and give it some time to work in. Use the rubber mallet (or wood block and hammer) on the outside edge of the drum (towards the car) working in a star pattern to break the bond beteen the hub and drum. Once you see a bit of movement then work on the back of the drum, towards the outside of the car, again in a star pattern.
If the brake linings have separated from the shoes, they may have jammed things up so go slow.

[locsplitter]

Nice write up, but it's disgusting to see what places like Massachusetts does to all the metal parts. I swear those brake parts look like they're about 30 years old. lol.

There are definitely some benefits to dry climates like Arizona.

My 95 explorer w/ 150k highway miles is completely rusted out...

Its pretty ugly out here

[zonian]

So, I was finally able to break free the driver's side hub. This is the side that I applied penetrating oil to a week ago...I used a BIGGER BFH this time.

Didn't have to worry about the linings separating from the shoe...There was absolutely zero material left on the shoe....no wonder the damn things didn't work!

Got the new shoes in on that side...no problemo

Now having a tough time with the shotgun side...put on some penetrating oil, will let it sit 'til the after rain blows through and then try wailing on it again.

[zonian]

Still can't break the shotgun side loose....even let it sit overnight with penetrating oil...no dice.

Put it all back together...figure I'll drive it for a week and see what happens next weekend.

[zonian]

2 BIG blows with the BFH and it broke loose today. Yay!! I guess it takes a week for penetrating oil to penetrate 7 years and 170K miles worth of rust.

[2005MagRt]

I've been reading through this thread because when I did the rear suspension upgrades on my car( eibach springs and sway bar, koni str8 shocks) I also found the ebrake linings separated from the shoes. I did not remove the rear hub assembly, swore like a sailor getting it all back together. Now the ebrake doesn't work at all! Press it down all the way and it does nothing to stop the car. I used to have a 63 Nova with drum brakes for a long time so I got pretty good at adjusting shoes to the drum. I pretty much followed the same technique here. After reading several posts that seem to have the same issue as I do, I'm wondering if the ebrake cable is stretched and if there is an adjustment on it or do they just get replaced. What do you think?

[fnkychkn]

I've been reading through this thread because when I did the rear suspension upgrades on my car( eibach springs and sway bar, koni str8 shocks) I also found the ebrake linings separated from the shoes. I did not remove the rear hub assembly, swore like a sailor getting it all back together. Now the ebrake doesn't work at all! Press it down all the way and it does nothing to stop the car. I used to have a 63 Nova with drum brakes for a long time so I got pretty good at adjusting shoes to the drum. I pretty much followed the same technique here. After reading several posts that seem to have the same issue as I do, I'm wondering if the ebrake cable is stretched and if there is an adjustment on it or do they just get replaced. What do you think?

if the shoes are in good condition and properly adjusted, the park brake should work. never had to replace cables for stretch. maybe your actuator pedal mechanism is defective???