So I bought new front drums for my 72 there is a few subtle diffrences but overall the demensions look identical. There is a metric max and min number on the drum. Now recently I was reading about how there is a leading and trailing shoe and the leading shoe is thicker. When I did my drums like 4 years back I didn't know this but my drums where original with some wear so if I screwed it up I wouldn't of known. I went to install the new drums on and one side went in no problem and one side went in very tight. This is with the used shoes. Now if there is thicker and thinner shoes that would explain why one side looked very worn out vs. The other. I'm thinking I did thick thick and thin thin vs the correct combo. Any input on this I would appreciate before I resort to cutting new drums. I did have the adjusters all the way in.

 

Wow,

i just put raybestos shoes in my cutlass, but maybe i lucked out and did a thick/thin on either side.

I have a set of brand new shoes at home, i could measure the lining later on if you want.

 

Well when I looked at the liners one side was thin thin and one was thick thick if I remembered correctly. But I was reading a magazine article that mentioned the leading show is thicker and how it's easy ot screw it up which makes me think I didnit wrong . But I'm wondering if anyone else came across this or has more knowledge than me on this subject. If you can post some pics that would be awesome. I'm talking thousanths here too because I was sanding my shoes to make it fit since I wasn't gonna do old shoes on new drums.

 

On drum brakes, there is a primary and a secondary shoe on each wheel. The primary shoe is shorter (less pad) and goes toward the front of the car. The longer shoe is the secondary and goes toward the rear of the car. I think the primary is also a little thicker, because it does most of the braking.

If you installed them wrong before, you should get a new set of shoes. Don't ruin new drums or have poor braking by using bad parts.

 

Agreed. I want it to work properly I drag race this thing lol. I haven't driven it since I did the suspension I took a break from the car now it's time to get back at it.

 

Did you also make sure that the pushrods on the brake cylinder were fully compressed? If the return springs are weak the shoes may not fully retract. You should not need to cut brand new drums to fit over installed shoes, ever.

If these are Chinesium drums, you may want to have them checked for concentricity or out-of-roundness. I've had two instances on two different vehicles where brand new Chinesium drums were out of round and needed to be turned.

 

I did make sure they where compressed all the hardware is new from the las time I did the shoes. Joe is one pad thicker than the other or am I getting uneven wear I do remember the pass. Side being thinner on the shoes. I tried everything to ge the one drum to go in smooth. I'm going to get new shoes and go from there then have the shop across the street check the drums out. Thanks for the help guys.

 

Fwiw I also swapped drums from side to side and it was the same deal. I also do remember measuring the shoe thickness with my dialcalipers and the dr. Side was thicker. Pass. With the adjuster all the way out just keeps spinning . Dr. Side you have to labor to get it to spin maybe twice.

 

Joe you where right on something didn't compress all the way. Today I jacked up the car and spunt the tires like nothing so I'm going to get new shoes and install properly which I did not lol. Thanks for your input guys really appreciate it.

 

FYI, as you noted above, the front (leading) and rear (trailing) shoes are different. The leading shoes are always the ones with the shorter (and sometimes thicker) lining. Just compare the new shoes side-by-side and always install the ones with the shorter lining towards the front.

 

Another critical thing to do is have the shoes measured and cut to fit the new drums. The radius of the drum and the radius of the shoes need to be right. The radius of a new drum is less than the radius of a worn drum, and likewise with new and used shoes. The main stoping power comes from the middle of the shoes, not the ends. If the ends of the shoes hit the drum first, they prevent the entire shoe and most importantly the middle of the shoe to hit the drum with any force. You can stand on the brakes and the shoes will push on the ends of the shoe against the top and bottom of the drum. That is only slightly better than opening the door and dragging your feet.

 

Got it all squared away guys thank you. It needs some adjstment of the shoes i think the pedal feels a bit soft. Im going to adjust the rears since i always run them loose . What is the optimum amont of turs of the wheel when spun. I was always told 1 3/4 turn of the wheel when spun is good. Aside from that the car brakes nice and smooth straight and dos not pull like it used to.