Brake Shoes not centering.

[Albus]

I'm replacing my rear brakes and have them put back on but they don't seem to be centering on the axle/backing plate. I can barely even get the drum back on. You can see from the pictures that they are pulling towards the front. I can manually force them back but the springs just pull them out of center again. I can't see any problems with the way I put it all back together and wondering if anyone has any experience with this.  I ordered all my parts based on this very helpful post:

Thanks in advance for any help!

[fred heath]

Try it with the shoes reversed. It looks like you might have the leading shoe being used as the trailing shoe and visa versa.

it’s hard to tell from the picture, but leading shoes usually have less brake lining applied.

[Scott iv]

Did you change the position of your brake shoe self adjuster?  When I did mine I screwed the adjuster in all the way so I could get the drum on easily and freely. After it was all back together I put the vehicle in reverse and hard braked a few times to adjust the shoes. 

[Albus]

thanks for the reply Fred but I can confirm I have them correct. It's actually hard to mess up because the rear shoe comes with a post for the E brake.

[extech]

i've never seen the small spring from rear shoe to backing plate. looks to be pulling shoes forward

[Albus]

2 minutes ago, Scott iv said:

Did you change the position of your brake shoe self adjuster?  When I did mine I screwed the adjuster in all the way so I could get the drum on easily and freely. After it was all back together I put the vehicle in reverse and hard braked a few times to adjust the shoes. 

Yes I had to dial it all the way in to get the drum on. expanding it did seem to center it a little but no way I could get the drum on. With it all the way in I can fit the drum on but the front shoe is tight against the drum as it's so out of position.

[Albus]

4 minutes ago, extech said:

i've never seen the small spring from rear shoe to backing plate. looks to be pulling shoes forward

I agree it seems to be asymmetrical and would tend to pull it out of center but was definitely there when I opened it up and came with the kit... Also shown in the shop manual below

[extech]

did you compare new shoes to old ones

[extech]

also appears the rear upper spring isn't on the post all the way

[Scott iv]

The springs and shoes all appear correct. Is the wheel cylinder fully compressed on both sides? is the self adjuster properly seated in the shoes?

[Albus]

12 minutes ago, extech said:

did you compare new shoes to old ones

they appear to be pretty much identical.

[Albus]

10 minutes ago, extech said:

also appears the rear upper spring isn't on the post all the way

That's as far as I can get it on. The new springs are a little different, somewhat thicker gauge. I'll try putting the old springs back on. 

[Albus]

40 minutes ago, Scott iv said:

The springs and shoes all appear correct. Is the wheel cylinder fully compressed on both sides? is the self adjuster properly seated in the shoes?

it seems less compressed on the front - I can push it in a bit more than the back.  The adjuster looks to be fully seated. 

[extech]

the shoes look to be against the anchor at the top = wheel cyl is compressed.  the bottom of the shoes being forward is the problem  yes?  can you try the old spring going from shoe to backing plate

[Albus]

the new and old appear to be identical. When I take that spring off I can push the whole assembly to the center and it will stay. With the spring attached (old or new) I can push it to center but then it pulls back to the front. Bizarre. 

[Albus]

In case anyone ever has the same issue: I put together the other side with the same results and finally figured out that an overly tight parking brake cable is the culprit.

[extech]

thanks for putting this to rest. i will remember when i have mine apart again

[IdahoDoug]

Also, with drum brakes here is a super helpful tip as they're oddly able to go together a few ways.  Take several photos before you disassemble. And NEVER take both sides apart together. One at a time gives you the chance to use the other side as a reference in a pinch.