Back in May I put new shoes on the back and bled the lines for state inspection. I knew I had to lossen up the adjusters to get the drums off and tighten them after putting the drums back on. @000 miles later after coming down a big mountain here, I noticed the front brakes were burning and the pedal was really hard. One week after that, I saw the back wheel was leaking brake fluid and the ABS and brake lights were on. I then torn it all down and replaced both cylinders. My question is: When I took it to get inspected, they pulled both back drums. At that time if they did not tighten the adjusters back up, would my back brakes not be a effective and since there was soo much distance between shoes and drum, would that be enought to cause the cylinders to over extend and blow the cup out? Is it worth going back to the shop and say they owe me $20 for new shoes since the old ones were soaked in fluid?

 

So the shoes were so far out of adjustment that the piston hyper-extended to the point that the inner seal was out of the cylinder? Seems to me that it would be pretty hard to have them that loose. When you dismantled them, did you see that the adjustment was that far away? I would certainly lodge a complaint with state whether the inspection done by the state or by private enterprise. They need to know. Doubt you will get any money back, if that is all you are after.