The drivers side rear brake on my '65 keeps dragging. I'll adjust it and drive it 10 miles or so and it's back to dragging again. I've taken the adjuster apart and it seems to be fine and everything else seems to be ok as well. I'm thinking it may be that the return spring is weak... any other ideas??

The drivers side rear brake on my '65 keeps dragging. I'll adjust it and drive it 10 miles or so and it's back to dragging again. I've taken the adjuster apart and it seems to be fine and everything else seems to be ok as well. I'm thinking it may be that the return spring is weak... any other ideas??

Are yor e-brakes dragging? Both of the shoes should be against the top anchor pin . If the cable or arm is hanging up the shoes won't sit right againt the pin.

Has any other brake work been done recently?

Are your return springs in the correct locations? Are the primary and secondary shoes in the correct locations? The shoes should pull together toward the center with a fair amount of tension when assembled and fit snuggly against the post at the top of the backing plate. The small springs at the bottom should be holding the shoes snuggly against the backing plate. Keep us posted when you get it sorted out.

Thanks for the response guys... .I'll try to answer everyones questions.

Bill... I checked after reading your response and it appears that the e-brake may be part of the problem. The shoes were off the top pin just a bit.

S-Chief... no, no brake work has been done since I bought the car in Sept of '03. The brake had done this once before but I was able to adjust them and the problem went away.

RayJ... the shoes are in the correct location. According to my manual all the springs are in the correct place but there does seem to be some slack in the rear shoe which indicates to me that the spring may be stretched. The small springs that hold the shoes against the backing plate do not hold them what I would call "snug". They are against the plate but can be moved rather easily. I'm not a brake expert but have done several brakes jobs in my lifetime. I don't recal having those small springs holding the brakes snug (tight?) against the backing plate.

I will try to get some new springs and work on the e-brake in the next week or so and will then get back to you guys on the results.

Thanks... Jim

A stuck e-brake cable will cause it to hang.

George

Trips, you might also want to take a good look at the raised spots on the backing plate where the back of the shoes rest on. I've noticed on a couple of my veh's. that they can dig in and make a rough spot after years of use. I just did the rear of my goat a few weeks ago and noticed mine were a bit rough. I just smoothed them with a moto tool and applied a little grease.

Thanks CT... I'll check that out. I have a couple of fresh aluminum brake drums coming and when they get here I am going to redo the entire rear brakes so I will go through everything then. Good tip... I may not have caught that. Thanks.... Jim

if you have groove(s)...if you can raise up the groove with a weld first, and then grind/file it, that might be best so the shoe still sits straight. all the flats should be in plane for best results.
http://www.spkorb.org/cougariffic/co...mbnails/11.jpg