Installing New Drum Brake Shoes.........

[dpfurby]

I have a 1994 Ranger and am going to install new rear brake shoes.

Does anyone know the drum maximum limit safely allowed???

Is it a rule to always replace the hardware-- springs / clips etc.??? Even though they look good???

Thanks.

 

[Ranger-rick]

Yes because a spring and adjuster kit is so cheap it isn't even worth saving the original ones. If the shoes are wore out then there's a good chance the springs are wore out too. They're real cheap for a kit. Just grab a new spring and adjuster kit with your shoes.

Its not a bad idea to replace wheel cylinders either if you are still running the original ones and it has over 100k miles on it. Its a lot easier to just replace it all once instead of tearing it apart 5 times to replace one thing at a time. Plus the parts for ranger brakes are cheap as heck, its not like your putting brakes on a 1 ton diesel, now that's I can see skipping parts for the shear cost of them haha.

 

[97RangerXLT]

Ranger Rick has hit it spot on. the extra cost for t he spring kit and the wheel cylinders is not much more. probably 12 bucks for each wheel cylinder and maybe 10 for the spring kit. If the adjuster parts are froze up replace them too, but if they are good and turn freely you can reuse.

Drum brakes are such a pain in the ass to deal with I will gladly spend an extra 30 bucks to not have to do it all over again in case the old hardware fails.

AJ

 

[doorgunner]

Yep.....if'n you keep the truck...it's a small price to pay on a brake job.....

which reminds me......

I'm overdue on the 200,000 (215,500)mile brake job on the '36 Ranger

 

[Surrey]

You really dont HAVE to do anything other than the shoes.

But as stated, for the additional cost you might as well do the spring kit and wheel cylinders while your in there.... Unless your some sorta masochist who loves screwing around with drum brakes. If thats you, just do the shoes. (and Hardware if its in bad shape.)

 

[Insanejughead]

Since nobody else commented on another one of his questions, the maximum drum diameter is deeply stamped on its edge.


If you don't see what I'm talking about, wire brush the hell out of where you think there is writing and you'll see it.

 

[Ranger-rick]

Forgot about that one. Yep its stamped on there. If they are grooved I wouldn't even mess with turning them, I would get drums too. If they aren't bad then no need to get drums.

 

[doorgunner]

Forgot about that one. Yep its stamped on there. If they are grooved I wouldn't even mess with turning them, I would get drums too. If they aren't bad then no need to get drums.

Depends on the cost of new drums compared with "turning the original drums"....if they're badly grooved/gouged/big lip....get new ones (no sense in having them re-cut---then you've wasted money to find out they're too thin (out of spec.)

 

[Andy D]

With the front discs doing 80 % of the stopping, a rear drum has to be pretty messed up, not to do its job. I never turn them , I use them. My Jeep Wags had GM brakes and they were dirt cheep. Ranger brakes are cheap too. The Rat had a recent brake job before. But then it sat for a year. The shoes were heat cracked from dragging because the original hardware hadnt been replaced They held the brakes together so the truck stopped. But the entire system had rusted to flinders The drums were fine but everything inside was replaced for 25$ a wheel from Autozone. Remanned calpers and pads are about 30$ a side. May as well get the front hoses 15 $ each to. How are the hard lines ? They crumbled when touched on the Rat. Brake lines are easy. You either put them together with various lengths for reasonable money or, after buying 50$ worth of tools , make your own lines. Buy a quart of brake fluid too. I learned waaay back to take off both drums but only work on one side at a time . So you can use t'other side as a reference.

 

[adsm08]

Turning drums is a tricky question. Some of them come with only one or two thousandths lee-way between new and max spec, and if not turned perfectly they can make noise, and it is very easy to cut them out of spec in as single light pass.

On the other hand they wear so slowly that if the brakes don't vibrate from out of round drums or the rust lip isn't so large that they don't want to come off they can last 300,000 miles or more before naturally wearing out of spec.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I usually re-use drums until they're obviously in bad shape (my f-150 the lip edge of the drum rusted off). The wear limit on the shoes is, IIRC, 2/32" over the rivets. If a spring kit looks to be in new condition (pretty much all the paint still on the springs and they're tight as heck), I have a tendency to re-use them. Otherwise, I'll throw a new spring kit on 'em. I try to use the adjusters but more often than not I end up replacing them (I live in the rusty steel buckle of the rust belt). I grease the heck out of new adjusters because of that. I'll throw a small dab of grease on the spots where shoes rub on the backing plates because backing plates are not overly cheap or easy to do. Wheel cylinders I do only when I have to replace brake lines or they prove to be bad (leaking or do not move freely - when you tear the brake drum apart, I push the wheel cylinder back and forth a couple times, if it's not moving relatively easily, it's probably not long for this world). Make sure your emergency brake cables are moving freely too, if not it's a good time to replace them while you have it all apart.

I don't mind drum brakes. They can be a PITA, but I'd rather do those than pack grease into front wheel bearings, that's just a messy job.

 

[Insanejughead]

Agreed, as easy as it is, and as many times as I've done it, I would rather redo both of my back brakes than repack my front bearings... The hardest thing about drums is the springs, which aren't tough at all to me anymore.

Someone finally said it, but grease up those adjusters and check your e-brake cables, too!

(My e-brake cables gave me more trouble than any other single component in my brake experience.)

 

[FritzTKatt]

Replace it all and don't worry about it. And the drums should be stamped. The lines will be seized into the wheel cylinders, so expect to replace them up to the splitter, if not further up. So far the only connection I found not seized was at the MC (thank god).

I put a dab of antisieze on the surface the edge of the shoe rides on, and one on the end of the axle shaft/drum mating surface since that rusts up real quick, especially on off-road trucks.

Sometimes I've had to reuse the retainer (blue) springs or their caps because the new ones just won't cooperate. If the pins are bent, definitely replace them. Usually the adjuster parts are included in the hardware kit for a few bucks and saves you a lot of headaches. A brake spring tool (I have the one that's like giant pliers, with a hook and pick on it) is one of the best $10 I ever spent.

 

[Ranger-rick]

I prefer one of these

Either one you use though are definitely a must have. I can only imagine doing it without a spring tool lol

 

[FritzTKatt]

Mine has the black portion on the right there on one side of the plier handle, and some other tools. Sometimes one decides to work better than the other. But that basic piece is essential to sanity.

I've done it without the tool, and was ready to visit the mental ward short a few packs of cigarettes and a lot of foul language.