Rear Shoes & Drums

Went to order drums and shoes for my 89 F350 from rock Auto. Had no idea we had soooo many options for drums. My drums are the 12x3. The drum is 5 3/8 tall with a center hole of 4 15/16. The 8 bolt diameter is 6 1/2. Its taken me 3 days to figure out what I need. Ended up spending $157.34 for the 12x3 Raybestos set of shoes and the Raybestos drums. The shipping was in the final cost but it was $39.97 4 to 6 days Fed Ex. The shoes are the part number 314PG and the drums are part number 3240R. Looking thru the different brands it tells me single or dual wheel takes the same 3 inch shoe but.. When you ask for more info it then tells you the shoes are 3 1/2 inch.. What gives. I do not recall if any single rear wheel trucks ever came with 3 1/2 inch shoes and drums. Looks like next week one days is going to be brake day.. I sooo hate rear drum brakes. But at least I have the Ford special tools to get that shoe spring retainer on and off. Also purchased the return spring tool to ease trying to get those ******** on and off. Trying to remove or install them with pliers or channel locks is hell. A large pair of vice grips works... If you have them...

yup only the duallies have 3.5" shoes.

I always check Amazon especially if I have a PN. It would have been about $150 and free shipping for those parts.

Do yourself a favor and get new brake hardware. It's cheap and so much nicer then messing with the old dirty stuff. Any parts store probably has it.

Mine probably need attention, definitely adjusted. I just gotta wait out the rain and man up. Everyone is always talking about how hard it is, just hoping the engine swap was harder!

rhkcommander said:

Mine probably need attention, definitely adjusted. I just gotta wait out the rain and man up. Everyone is always talking about how hard it is, just hoping the engine swap was harder!

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i don't mind replacing shoes.once you've done 'em a few times over the years,they ain't bad at all.

I've done disk brakes plenty, just never tackled a drum.

Do one at a time so you have 1 to look at.

Definately leave one side alone so you have something to look at. Or use the cell phone and take plenty of pics. The hard part of our rear brakes is the special tool needed to remove the shoe springs that keeps the shoe against the backing plate. Most all shoes have that coil spring and the 2 cups.. Not so with us. Do yourself a favor and purchase the tools. Towcat has posted the snapon tool for this. I also purchased the Craftsman brake pliers for the return springs. That tool has several need attachments that make removal of those hard to hold long springs. It takes them off and installs them really easy. U tube it for a better explanation than I can tell you here..

Save this pic also.

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thanks guys, sorry for the derail

That pic is great except not all shoes are mark with this side out. I know it took me a couple tries laying them out to get them in the right places but I was starting from bare backing plates with nothing to look at.

Don't think I've seen any that were. But if you follow the smaller one to the front, it doesn't matter if it goes driver or passenger. (In my experience)

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Great pic of a correct brake placement with all the springs too. That brake spring hold down spring it the hard one to work with and requires the special tool.I went to U tube and saw how a couple of guys used a pair of long handle vice grips to remove or install this spring. I also saw the craftsman brake pliers in use and now know what the pointed and hooked side is used for. The point rests on the brake shoe lining and the hooked end grabs the spring end and guides it into the shoes. The one leg is used to guide the other shoe return springs on to the top connecter. That part of the tool has a hollowed out end with a lip on the very end to help hold it as the spring slides down the leg to the fixture at the top between the brakes. To get these 2 same springs off this top fixture you use the other leg of the pliers and rotate that end on the same fixture and the spring will be picked up and removed. Really a nice tool too.

Yeah, I have those tools and I used the special tool to take off the hold down springs but I think I ended up using pliers to put them back on. Needle nose vice grips are awesome for brake service.

Best thing I have found for the hold down spingsl is a pair of vicegrips. Positioned just right its pretty easy to lever the springs into position.