On my 94, actually all of them, shouldn't the short shoe go on the front?

I just pulled my rear drums to look at them again because my back brakes have never been very good on this truck and I noticed the short ones are on the back. It doesn't look right to me. The shoes look perfect so do the drums.

The Ford dealer did the brake job on it too right before I got it.
Broke off both front bleeders, tied a p brake cable around the axle and left it there, put front slide pins in upside down and dry. I'm going to lose it if the shoes are on backwards too.

 

Yep...bass-ackwards. Small in the front.... I'll bet the adjusters are on the wrong side too since they look new...... dealership huh?

 

It's been like this for 2 years now. I can't believe it never dawned on me to check them if they are on right.
The adjusters are on right but I had to replace one. I also did a hardware kit on one side a few months ago. I just never thought to make sure the shoes are on right and I thought I knew which way they go. This would definitely cause my brake problems. When I have my horse trailer behind me I have to turn the brake controller up nearly all the way to stop and that just ain't right on an F350.

Ford dealer did it. They did everything on this truck before I got it. So far everything they fixed I have had to fix right too. I'm going to go talk to the last owner and see if he is willing to do something about it with me. He is in his 60's and they just screwed him. He can't be the only one either. This stuff aint safe.


I will post a picture of the proper way the rear brake shoes go on as soon as I am done and hopefully the moderators can put that in a sticky thread somewhere. Every online diagram I have seen so far is wrong! Even my Ford CD manual shows the primary shoe on the wrong side. Bunch of idiots!

 

There are 2 different shoes for our trucks also.
The wide ones go on the SRW's. and the smaller ones go on the DRW's.
Seemed backwards to me, but less room in the drum on the DRW's.

Yes, Long on back always. I've probably done it the other way, but ehh.

can never go wrong with all new springs and adjustors.

 

Actually you can go wrong. In order to get them on backwards like this two of the shoes end up being on the wrong side of the truck. If you look at the shoes, there is a spacer welded on to the top of it where it rides on the backing plate stud. Put it on the wrong side and it sets the shoe at an angle to the drum. That's not good. Both my drums are now worn at an angle and so are two of the shoes. No wonder it wasn't working.

Also, I know some cars back in the 60's and before did have the short one on the other side. Some of them had short on the front on one side and long in front on the other. Also right hand and left hand thread on the lug nuts. Things have been standardized pretty much for US made cars and trucks since the mid 60's though. At least that's what I was taught at the Ford training center. It's long since closed now and they do everything on the internet. That is why there are so many idiots there now. No human training them and smacking them upside the head when they put stuff on backwards.

 

Should a Gentleman offer a lady a tipperillo?

 

My brakes sure work good now. I am broke so I machined the drums on my lathe and fixed the shoes on my bench belt sander. It can actually set off the ABS now. Never felt that before on this one.

 

The repair manual I have is correct, so is the Online manual.
Here's a picture stolen from the online manual......a little hard to see but the smaller shoe is toward the front.

 

Sorry, you've got it backwards. A DRW drum is 12 1/2" in diameter with a 3 1/2" wide braking surface. A SRW drum is 12" x 3". Most auto shops can do a SRW drum but you have to send out a DRW drum to a real machine shop to get it turned.

I'm not sure why you'd think a DRW has less room. Look how much room is inside a SRW wheel and then look inside a DRW wheel facing inward.

 

My F-250 is a SRW and it has 3 1/2" shoes replaced them 6 mo ago and that is waht is listed for them OEM. The only differnce I found is that there is a an application for the light duty and heavy duty versions and that is in 96 not just 97. Also oredered the build sheets on my truck and Ford officially recognizes it as a f250 HD. Built in 4/96.

 

You sure it's not 2-1/2"? The F250 can have 2-1/2" or 3". The F350 SRW has 3".

 

I take that back they are 3" I just looked them up, they were the largest shoes listed for my truck.

 

yea. The SRW's have 3 inchers, and the DRW's have 2 1/2

I couldnt remember the numbers.
I just went though this a while back.

 

OK, one more time here...
Go check on any online parts store. The DRW has 3 1/2" brake shoes AND the drum is bigger around; 12 1/4" instead of 12".

I just did mine. I had to take the drum to a heavy duty machine shop because the regular auto machine shop couldn't turn anything over 12"

 

There are 3.5 inch ones on some of them. I think drw with 4x4 is all. It's not very common. It was an option though. I remember that. HD braking system for the camper package if I remember right. Mine has the camper package and trailer tow package, SRW with sway bars and factory overloads and it has the 3 inch shoes.

If I go to a parts store to get shoes here I know none of their computers will tell them the right ones. I'm going to get new linings for mine next month and reline them myself. It's easy and a whole lot cheaper to do that way. Those 90 dollar extreme duty ones at Oreilleys can be done with the exact same linings my way for 15 bucks!

Most places won't turn these drums. I wouldn't even recommend letting a regular car garage do it. Find a place that actually relines clutches or brakes for big trucks and you will be a lot better off.