2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Rear Shoes installed backwards?

[RoosterXP]

First off this site is Awesome!! i cant believe all the info and how helpful everyone is... ok anyway



I took my truck into the shop, had some front end parts installed and aligned, i also had them rotate the tires and adjust the rear brakes for me... A buddy and i replaced the rear wheel seals about a year ago and i also put on brand new Bendix shoes. when the shop took the drums off they said the brakes were put on backwards. is this possible??

 

[SRath]

My truck had one side with the short shoe in front and one side with the short shoe in the back. I have never, ever seen the short shoe, sometimes called the leading shoe, installed in the back before.



I put them back together with the short shoe in the front on both sides and have had no problems for years.

 

[kenny61]

the shoe with less material always goes towards the front

 

[RoosterXP]

cool, i will check them out here soon. . thanks guys!

 

[BSMcCauley]

The brake cylinder pretty much pushes the leading shoe out into the drum and then the braking effort applied by the leading shoe is what pushes the trailing shoe out into the drum. Then the braking effort of both shoes + the brake cylinder force reacts against the post at the top that the return springs pull both shoes back into when the brake pedal is released. This is what makes the automatic brake adjusters work when the brakes are applied hard in reverse -- If the back shoe is pushed out away from the post too far while braking in reverse, the adjuster takes up another notch (or "click") of adjustment on the star wheel when the brakes are released again.



Anyway, since the front shoe is always the leading shoe when traveling forward, it usually receives only the force applied by the brake cylinder, it is not pushed out into the drum as hard as the back shoe. So that is the reason the back shoe wears faster. To compensate, some brake manufacturers use thicker lining material on the rear shoe, but leave the shoes otherwise identical. Occasionally, you will run into a set where the pad of lining material on the front shoe is smaller than on the back one but the thickness is the same on both.



Either way, and as mentioned earlier, the shoe with the larger or thicker lining material goes toward the rear. The brake shoes sets I've been getting for my '96 are identical, so it doesn't make any difference when new. However, I've found that I can usually re-use the front shoe when servicing the brakes since the lining material is only 1/2 gone on that one. I just change the worn-out rear shoes on alternating brake jobs and then change out all of them every other time when the front one has also worn out.



BTW: On my '96, there is another inspection hole with plug (identical to the adjustment access hole) toward the lower end of both the front and back shoes. This allows one to directly see how much brake lining material remains on both shoes without pulling the drum.

 

[Grizzly]

First off this site is Awesome!! i cant believe all the info and how helpful everyone is... ok anyway



I took my truck into the shop, had some front end parts installed and aligned, i also had them rotate the tires and adjust the rear brakes for me... A buddy and i replaced the rear wheel seals about a year ago and i also put on brand new Bendix shoes. when the shop took the drums off they said the brakes were put on backwards. is this possible??

To answer your question in a very simple way, it's okay to get the primary and the secondary shoes mixed up, but you may wear out the rear shoe faster if you have them crossed.