14 Bolt FF brake adjustment and setup questions.

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Strouty

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I am working on a 1996 full float 14 bolt, it is single rear wheel on a Burb, has the slide on drums. When I redid the brakes I put the larger shoe to the rear with the parking brake, drove it for a while, adjusted the brakes up, then had nothing but issues after that, turned into brakes dragging hard. I backed the brakes off completely, readjusted and things were OK for another month, then adjusted them again, same issue only worse. In the end the drums took too much heat and they had a out of round issue so now I installed all new AC Delco everything, even replaced the adjusters (also confirmed left and right were correct). I now have one side that seems to tighten up on the adjuster properly, but the other side grabs the shoes and locks the drum up tight well before the adjuster gets tight. I am pulling my hair out at this point, the GM service manual is about as vague as possible when it comes to the two different shoes, they just say to install the one with the parking brake lever to the rear, well you can install the lever on either shoe? I didn't get any pictures tonight, I will have to get them tomorrow morning. I have looked at a few write ups on this forum and I didn't see where anyone spelled out the difference in shoes. Thanks for any input, I am going to swap shoes and see if that changes anything, that is my next move.
 

Schurkey

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Front/primary shoe lining tends to be shorter, thicker, softer, or lighter-colored; or some combination.

Rear/secondary shoe lining tends to be longer, thinner, harder, or darker-colored; or some combination.

I have seen both primary shoes on one side, both secondaries on the other side. Primary shoes on the rear, secondary shoes forward. None of that works properly.

Do the shoes ALWAYS come to rest on the anchor pin at the top of the backing-plate? They're not held off the anchor pin by the park-brake mechanism? Park brake cables aren't seized or partially-seized (sticking)?

Wheel bearings properly adjusted?

Brake springs not distorted/weak/missing?

Backing-plate contact pads (should be three for each shoe) heavily-grooved, so that the shoe sticks in the grooves? Slight grooving isn't good, but doesn't get me flustered. Heavy grooving can be a problem. Some guys MIG-weld the grooves, then grind flat again. I'm sure "official" procedure is to replace the backing plates.

Slide-on drums? I'm jealous. Mine, on the '97, are on the wrong side of the hub flange, "riveted" in place with the lug studs.
 
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Strouty

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The shoes are definitely wrong, the springs and hardware are all new, nothing is sticking on the e-brake, wheel bearings are fine. When I flip the pads, I will have to look for any grooves in the backing plates, that could also be an issue. This is my first one with slide on drums that was full float, it was kind of a nice thing for sure. ;)

I will take some pictures and report back, thanks for all the tips.
 

HotWheelsBurban

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Everything else looks good, just the shoes backwards, hopefully that solves my issues, lesson learned, I won’t reverse them next time. Now to tear them apart and put them back together.

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So is this picture the correct orientation or still the wrong way? Eventually I will have to get into the rear brakes on the crew cab and it's the same axle (hopefully including the slide on/off drums!).
 

AuroraGirl

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Front/primary shoe lining tends to be shorter, thicker, softer, or lighter-colored; or some combination.

Rear/secondary shoe lining tends to be longer, thinner, harder, or darker-colored; or some combination.

I have seen both primary shoes on one side, both secondaries on the other side. Primary shoes on the rear, secondary shoes forward. None of that works properly.

Do the shoes ALWAYS come to rest on the anchor pin at the top of the backing-plate? They're not held off the anchor pin by the park-brake mechanism? Park brake cables aren't seized or partially-seized (sticking)?

Wheel bearings properly adjusted?

Brake springs not distorted/weak/missing?

Backing-plate contact pads (should be three for each shoe) heavily-grooved, so that the shoe sticks in the grooves? Slight grooving isn't good, but doesn't get me flustered. Heavy grooving can be a problem. Some guys MIG-weld the grooves, then grind flat again. I'm sure "official" procedure is to replace the backing plates.

Slide-on drums? I'm jealous. Mine, on the '97, are on the wrong side of the hub flange, "riveted" in place with the lug studs.
epoxy on those pads can actually give a surface with low friction that can take lubricant as well
 

Schurkey

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Everything else looks good, just the shoes backwards, hopefully that solves my issues, lesson learned, I won’t reverse them next time. Now to tear them apart and put them back together.

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So is this picture the correct orientation or still the wrong way? Eventually I will have to get into the rear brakes on the crew cab and it's the same axle (hopefully including the slide on/off drums!).
I'd call that correct. The short shoe (primary) is not attached to the park brake mechanism. The front of the vehicle should be to the right in this photo.

In this case, looks like the secondary shoe lining is thicker than the primary.
 
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