so I finally got the drums off (see other post) with PB blaster and a hammer.
Now what the hell are you supposed to do with the cable/spring (ebrake i assume) that's hooked to the bottom of an arm attached to one of the shoes????? Is there some tool to compress the spring to remove and install the cable from the hook that it's looped through??? I've been a this for two hours trying to get that cable out of the old shoe, it finally came out, but I see NO FREAKING POSSIBLE way to install the new shoes without some sort of tool compressing the spring around that cable.
BTW this is a 03 sunfire.... and the haynes manual I had for my 98 Z24 is not helping at all,.... they must have changed the drums from 98 to 03 sometime???
------------
98 Z24 5-speed
Yes there is a tool for the springs inside of a drum brake, you can probably pick it up at a canadian tire or whatever kind of shop you have there.
Yes, there is a tool, that compresses that spring, so you can slide the shoe off, sometimes using a screwdriver and holding the spring, while someone else manuvers the shoe around,
hint, no offense if you dont know what your doing, dont mess with it
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
Wow man. No way I'd be doing a shoe replacement on my own for the first time without help!
If you'd come and said "Hey... I need to change my rear brake shoes... what will I need for this?" those tools would have been mentioned.
Yes back brake shoes are a pain, I just use a pair of needle nose locking grips, to get a firm grip on the springs and youre set.
i've changed front brakes 100000000 times, and i've seen rear brakes changed many times before as well. however... i have NEVER seen something as stupid as the e-brake assembly on these cars. any drum i've ever seen has c-clips and things that can be removed without having 12 hands or "special tools".
Regardless, it's done, and i'm never offering to change a rear drum again ever. I'll never let my girlfriend buy a car with rear drums again either :-).
For some reason, I went out and bought the new book to replace my old haynes 1995-98 manual, and it STILL didn't match what was on the car. The hook underneath the line i was bitching about (it holds that "W" shaped clip) was supposed to be removable.... well, it wasn't. i don't know if her car was different, or the book was wrong... but honestly. Worst design EVER.
Sorry for the bitching, i was pretty pissed when I wrote that first reply. A couple beers cooled me down enough to realize that if i was ever going to get the cable through the new shoes... i needed vice grips, a pair of pliers, and a second person to loop it through.
------------
98 Z24 5-speed
I'm pretty sure they did change the design of the 03+ rear brakes.
take and post some pictures, that way its easier to see whats the problem.
