Took one front drum off, PLENTY of shoe material left, one adjustment screw was stuck so heated and got it going and adjusted. Took rear wheels off and got the drums off, not particularly hard, one set of shoes is totally fine, the other the friction material was totally detached from the shoe. Ultimate question is, leave the good side and save the trouble of taking shoes and springs and stuff off, and have one side relined, or take both off and have relined. Drums appear to be in good shape, smooth surface. Wheel cylinders, springs, etc appear fine. Not sure how I'll ever get the shoes off with those heavy springs.
Last edited by Gdads51; 01/06/20263:36 PM. Reason: add detail to title
On safety of operation systems (lights, brakes, steering, etc.) the very best repair you can do is just barely good enough. That's particularly true on big, heavy rigs. What would an ambulance chasing lawyer do to your future if you happen to have a brake failure and hit a soccer mom's minivan full of kids? Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
I just used a regular brake tool to disassemble mine, similar to your set-up. The brake tool gives you the leverage and hook to slide the springs down the tool.
1957 Chevrolet 5700 LCF 283 SM420 2 speed rear, 1955 IH 300U T/A, 1978 Corvette 350 auto, 1978 Yamaha DT175, 1999 Harley Davidson Softail Fat Boy
This is extremely rarely, if ever used on public roads, or over 45 miles per hour, which is why I was considering doing only one side, however, that is a very good point, although the same can be argued about operating old equipment that's considered obsolete to most anyways. Not really any reason to do one side only anyways, shoe adjustment, maintenance, and replacement, would be stupid to have non synchronized.
If the detached lining is still in good shape, you could reattach it with flat head brass machine screws (with self-locking nuts) instead of rivets. Lots of big rig air brake linings were bolted to the brake shoes that way. It's possible the shop that did the reline job just didn't do a good job of riveting the linings on. You could also add some counterbored holes in the lining material between the existing ones and drill a corresponding hole in the brake shoe. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
If the attachment of one brake block failed, I'd be very suspicious of the rest of them. It might be a good idea to replace ALL the rivets with screws, one at a time so you don't lose the alignment of the brake blocks with the shoes. Brass screws won't score the drums, if the linings wear down that far. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
I don't know exactly what was used to secure linings to screws on bonded lining brake shoes, but It might be worth investigating. I'm not sure I'd trust screws instead of rivets, as screws can loosen, and don't have the cross section and shear strength that solid section rivets do for the same diameter. Even self-locking nuts can loosen.
I'm surprised that Jerry has recommended the less than original fix on brake systems given his statement above about the best repair being barely good enough.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
I'm looking at the different thicknesses of the still attached linings versus the rogue ones. Could something in that brake like a wheel cylinder, be binding up which caused the brake to overheat and shed its lining? Doesn't look burnt, but then again we can't see the drum from the detached side, either. The detached shoe looks pretty shredded, the holes wallowed out too big to reattach.
