Ok here is the deal, The rear brakes have never been replaced in the life of the car, about 70,000+ miles. That would explain why ive gone through front pads every 6 months or so. And the car still passed inspection.

So yesterday, i got a new set of shoes, and brembo drums.

Now i havent installed drum brakes in many years, so i followed Chiltons Instructions to the letter. All was easy enough to do, and i had the tools readily available.

Hour later i was done.

So tonight i started getting a strong burning smell and a squeeling/grinding sound.
I assume that means i have a shoe stuck against the drum. So other then the readjustment of the star wheel, is there anything else i should look for or do?


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Bendix and Lockheed brake systems both rely on

service personnel to replace the return springs.

In your case, those springs may have lost their temper.

Yea, that, and years & miles of little/no operation could lead to failure of the piston back there. It might be sticking, not letting the springs pull the shoes back. Overhaul/ rebuild in store?

Update:

Well took a check and gave a temp fix till tuesday to finish it off. The adjustment lever spring and 1 return spring broke.

So i picked up a harware set for about $10, only bad thing is it only comes with 2 of the dark green light green springs, not 4. Unless that is what the yellow springs are for, im gonna take another lookie soon. Seen here:

The red/white springs are to have tension on the adjuster star.
The green (dark & light) / yellow are to hold the shoes to the backing plate.
The black and green sets (look somewhat similar) go at the top,
control the "pull back" of the shoes & tenstion on the auto adjuster.
Hope that helps.