My Brakes (forgive if this has been posted)

[chrismccarthy]

Hey, ok, with the article from TeriAnn about 10 inch brakes i pulled my supposedly rebuilt rear brakes and have come to realize that they are ALL WRONG. so i started over. but to follow the instructions from TeriAnn, unless i am a weakling, you need a wheeler puller to put the brake shoes with springs onto the pivot points and the wheel cylinders..? the hub has to be removed too!?! if that is the case, and i can't confirm b/c i can't find my Green Bible...(British) wife has probably hidden it, feeling that she had left the farmer's Rovers behind before coming to Texas, but if it is, then my question is, what else is needed to complete this job...new shoes, check, new cylinder, check, but are there parts needed because i've taken the hub off?

[greenmeanie]

If you are talking about the front brakes then no, you don't need to pull the hub off to fit the shoes.

First of all, if you have not done the brake line mod to put the bleed screw in the top cylinder you'll find things a lot easier to bleed your brakes before mounting the brake shoes as you will be able to clamp the pistons in the cylinders to minimize the volume.

To put the shoes on first make sure you have the spring located correctly on each shoe, hook one end onto the pivot point and then pull the other end out and hook it into the slot on the wheel cylinder. Be careful to avoid damaging the dust boot. For that last bit I find a crow bar with a claw end hooks nicely over the brake shoe and gives you something substantial to pull on. A claw hammer works as well but not as easily. You then want to tap then to roughly center the shoes while you put the drum on. It gets pretty easy with a bit of practice.

[jac04]

Chris-
As you stated, you are working on the rear brakes. Greenmeanie's tip about the bleed screw is intended for the front 11" brakes. Either way, as greenmeanie already stated, the use of a pry bar or flat-bladed screwdriver will help get the shoes in place and the hubs stay in place.

[TeriAnn]

but to follow the instructions from TeriAnn, unless i am a weakling, you need a wheeler puller to put the brake shoes with springs onto the pivot points and the wheel cylinders..? the hub has to be removed too!?

Maybe I should rewrite parts of that page. I do not remove the hubs and I use a long flat blade screw driver to prise the last part on.

1. Make sure the wheel cylinder adjuster is adjusted so that the pistons are all the way in.

2. Make sure the snail cams are adjusted so that the shoe pin will ride against the all the way in position.

3. Assemble the springs to the shoes behind the hub flange before mounting the shoes. If you assemble them behind the flange you don't need to fight getting it over the hub flange. Here's where I have trouble with a spring falling off a shoe and having to start again. In the picture I had the hubs off because I was also replacing the inner hub seals. I took the picture before I put the hub on so people could see the springs.

4. I put the ends of one shoe into position and the bottom of the second shoe into position (occasionally having a spring fall off and having to start all over again).

5. Then I use my long screwdriver to pry the last shoe end into position.

6. I use a small hammer to tap the shoes so they look evenly positioned around the hub.

7. I apply the drum. It is usually a tight fit because I do not get the shoes located exactly even around the drum. Sometimes the drum only goes on part way and hangs up. You need to check to see if you are putting the drum on crooked. Most of the time you get hung up it is because the shoes are not exactly evenly spaced and a hammer tap on the end of a shoe will slide it enough for you to slide the drum on.

8. Apply the drum screws. If the edges of the screwdriver slot is buggered in the slightest buy new ones. Use anti seize and do not torque down the screws hard. It is the wheel and lug nuts that hold the drum in place, not those tiny screws. All those screws do is keeping the drum from coming off with the wheel when you remove the wheel. So they don't need to be cranked down to the point where you will have to fight to remove them next time.

9. Add fluid & bleed brakes if needed. IMPORTANT: Pump the brakes firmly a couple times to set the shoe location. The pistons will push the shoes into proper alignment. THEN adjust the shoes. I adjust them in all the way until the wheel is locked then back off two clicks.

Hope this helps

[chrismccarthy]

Thanks Greenmeanie, it is the rears i'm after. the fronts i got on, and by the way, after having to redo the fronts twice now, i may consider myself an expert at waggling the front shoes into place.
But TeriAnn, it is the rears and your photo that got my thinking i needed to remove the hubs. the pic, then, is just to illustrate, not a recommendation of procedure. i just can't see getting the springs pulled and puched into place on the round holes. it wasn't easy to get the spring hookends into place OFF THE BACKING PLATE, MUCH LESS ON!?! and both springs are behind the shoes, right?