[wilma]

Long story short, for a variety of reasons I had my local wrench put on a new set of front brake shoes on my 1968 GTO while he was doing other front end work that I don't have the tools or the time to do. I didn't tell him to turn the drums so of course he didn't and of course I realized they needed turning when I got the car back and drove it a bit. Since I had a few hours today I pulled the drums off and had them turned, but I noticed that he put the brake shoe with the large asbestos pad on the back of the plate facing the rear of the car, and the shoe with the smaller asbestos pad facing the front of the car. It's been a long time (30+ years) since I did drum brakes, but intuitively this doesn't seem correct to me. Can anyone tell me if in fact this is the proper way to install the front brake shoes? I'd like to have an expert opinion before I take it back to him. FYI, with the turned drums on it the car stops fine now.

Thanks!

[Old Goat 67]

CORRECT. Large shoe goes to rear of car, because it is the first to make contact with the drum as you apply the brakes in the forward motion of the car therefore having the most wear of the two shoes.

Charles

[wilma]

Old Goat, (I can relate to that...) thanks for your reply. I'll enjoy my newly found stopping power worry-free.

[Bandit400]

Sounds nasty but and old shop teacher told us to think of prison when working on drum brakes- the shoe that is longer, harder and darker goes in the rear. :-0

[Old Goat 67]

Originally Posted by Bandit400

Sounds nasty but and old shop teacher told us to think of prison when working on drum brakes- the shoe that is longer, harder and darker goes in the rear.

[superdutybob]

Ouch!

[guccieng]

bad visual, bad visual *repeats to self in futile attempt to erase memory*.

[INJUNTOM]

Originally Posted by Old Goat 67

because it is the first to make contact with the drum as you apply the brakes in the forward motion of the car therefore having the most wear of the two shoes.

Charles

Actually, the reason is that with the rotation of the drum, the front shoe grabs and the whole assembly is rotated slightly, jamming the large shoe in harder. There's a name for this, but it's escaping me right now. Guess I better brush up before I take my brake test again..

FWIW, the rear shoe does all the work.

[59safaricat]

Just remember this applies to Bendix style brake systems. The leading/trailing design (pretty much used in most applications today) is the opposite.....bigger shoe goes up front.

[chipster]

Originally Posted by INJUNTOM

Actually, the reason is that with the rotation of the drum, the front shoe grabs and the whole assembly is rotated slightly, jamming the large shoe in harder. There's a name for this, but it's escaping me right now. Guess I better brush up before I take my brake test again..

FWIW, the rear shoe does all the work.

The name is "Self Energizing".

[Terry M. Hunt]

So what happens if you get this backwards? What symptoms would you expect to notice when braking?

[Schurkey]

Originally Posted by Terry M. Hunt

So what happens if you get this backwards? What symptoms would you expect to notice when braking?

Primary shoe mis-installed in the secondary position? Excess wear of the short, soft, white shoe. I don't remember what the braking performance is like--perhaps grabby brakes.

[68ragtop]

landed on this old thread doing a quick search as I was trying to remember shoe direction.
Decided to grab the 68 service manual to confirm & Interestingly it shows the longer primary shoe towards the front of the car. Hmmmm

Seems odd, Different type of shoe though looking at the picture.

'

[Old Goat 67]

From 67 Shop manual, Page 5-9;

NOTE: When replacing shoes, always be certain
to assemble secondary shoes to the rear and pri-
mary shoes to the front. Note that linings of pri-
mary shoes are usually shorter than secondary
linings.

[Schurkey]

Originally Posted by 68ragtop

landed on this old thread doing a quick search as I was trying to remember shoe direction.
Decided to grab the 68 service manual to confirm & Interestingly it shows the longer primary shoe towards the front of the car. Hmmmm

Seems odd, Different type of shoe though looking at the picture.

'

First Guess: Somebody screwed up when posing the parts for the photo.
The secondary shoe would get the park brake lever, and be towards the rear. However, I'd expect it to have the longer, thinner, harder darker-colored lining material. The primary would get the shorter, thicker, softer, lighter-colored lining material.

[LATECH]

Yep. X2 with shurkey

The primary shoe is the shorter length of friction material
The secondary is the longer length of friction material

Also, the "Strut " they have pictured is what I refer to as the "reaction rod" for the parking brake.

[68ragtop]

Intersting picture for sure. Makes me wonder how many got installed backwards because of this picture. Mine almost did.

Also, I noticed they have the strut shown backwards as well. No way its installing in that direction.