[rchavez101]

Originally Posted by ChevLoRay

Here's a good rule if you have never done a drum brake job...Before you take anything apart, take some digital pix. Oh, pull the drum off, first.

Do one side at a time. Use the other side as a pattern, so you can refer to it.

The hardest thing is to take the springs off. If you don't have any brake spring pliers, get some. To take the springs off....one end of the tool will fit onto the stud where the springs are attached. (The other end of the spring is attached to the brake shoe). Anyway, fit the end of the tool over the stud and turn it so that the outer end of the tool (at the stud end) gets underneath the end of the spring and it wll come loose. Remove the springs. Now, there will be two round springs beneath a small metal cap that has what some call "nails" with a flat end. There is a screw-driver type of tool that fits onto the "cap". Push it towards the backing plate and turn it 1/4 turn. On the backside of the backing plate, that "nail" can be pulled thru. There are a couple more items attached to the lower ends of the brake shoes...that are part of the automatic adjusting mechanism. Don't lose 'em.

I'm gonna bet that someone has posted a how-to on youtube. Get a Haynes or Chilton manual.

Before you blow all the dust off of the assembly, put on a dust mask. There could be some asbestos in the lining compound.

When you have it apart sufficiently, use a can of Brake Parts Cleaner and spray it all down. Let the dirty stuff wash into a suitable container. It will evaporate quickly.

Get some White Grease and lightly touch it to the backing plates where the shiny spots are; those are the places that the back side of the shoes contact the backing plate. It's intentional.

The other end of that spring removal tool will have a groove and a lip. When you are reinstalling the springs that you first removed, the lip hooks onto the top of that stud and the end of the spring is placed onto the tool. As you lift the outer end of the tool, it will serve to guide the hook end of the spring, onto the stud.

Thanks I appreciate the info. Are they self adjusting?