The problem with new brake shoes and the parking brake.

Thanks for this, I put new shoes and drums on mine last fall. They seems to work well if I hold them and let off the clutch while it is gear. Trouble is when the truck is on a boat ramp with the boat the brake will not hold. I don't want to get onto youtube so I turn off the motor, leave it in gear and chock the back wheel. I well definitely be looking into this.

Inherently by design, drum brakes don't hold in reverse.
I would do a line lock for ramps. Lol

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Linelock is not designed to be left unattended and can bleed off like any hydraulics. Visualize how many times you have seen a jack bleed down or a loader, forklift or dump bed that slowly lowers itself.

On the trucks in the photos above the park brake holds in reverse as well. No reason it wouldn’t once contact is made properly between the parts.

Sure, they're designed to work either direction, fact is they don't give the same braking in reverse. Go to nearly any vehicle and set the brake, try to drive forwards and reverse. Way easier to overcome the brakes in reverse. Even on air brake systems, same thing for backing up to release a stuck brake.
Many people have been using manual line locks for temporary parking brake, around the 4x4/axle swap world. For the time it takes to unload a boat, plus coupled with the factory brake, it'll be fine.
A person could get real fancy and setup a abs unit to line lock. No bleeding off. (Just like all the vehicles with "hill start assist")

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Selahdoor said:

Yeah, I'm going to swap in a whole different axle because of a problem with brake shoes...

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That’s what I’m doing with the highboy lol. Lots of people do it to get rid of these outdated death traps that people call “drum brakes”. I have them on all 4 corners and it’s actually terrifying in heavy stop and go traffic or going down long winding grades where the engine braking isn’t enough. Building a 60/9inch out front and an Eaton HO72 in the rear with discs all the way around.

carsonlhammond said:

That’s what I’m doing with the highboy lol. Lots of people do it to get rid of these outdated death traps that people call “drum brakes”. I have them on all 4 corners and it’s actually terrifying in heavy stop and go traffic or going down long winding grades where the engine braking isn’t enough. Building a 60/9inch out front and an Eaton HO72 in the rear with discs all the way around.

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If I am still alive in a few years, and this truck is still with me, I'll probably be considering the upgrade.

But in the moment, and ONLY to solve a problem with the brake shoes. Seems kind of foolish. I'll come around, eventually.

I've never had any real trouble with drum brakes in the rear. I can see wanting disks up front but I've never had any reason to justify doing a rear disk swap myself. I figure if I can safely stop the 6000-8000# trailer I used to have that the brakes didn't work on, I shouldn't be fussing about the drums. Luckily for me my new trailer has working brakes lol!

Semis manage to stop with drum brakes. I've always been able to lock up the rear drum brakes on my trucks if I tried hard enough. I really don't need more than that. When I'm overloaded I crest the hill slowly in a low gear, like it or not, and I stay in that gear most of the way down.

Hi Selahdoor and Garbage mechanic and others, thanks for this post! Changed my shoes and springs yesterday and spent a bit of time puzzling over this very problem with the parking brake actuator on my drivers side creeping up over the rear shoe and messing up the action.

So my question is this...how hard is it to add a little metal to the shoe like you did for the actuator to butt up against? I've never done any welding before...is it a reasonable endeavor for a first-timer? Thanks guys

This is old post but very good ! I'm doing my rear brakes tomorrow on my '90 CC Dually. Looking at old shoes today & they seem to have been doing OK> Will ck out new shoes tomorrow & may do a bit of mig spot welding.
Never really got everything, but @Garbage_Mechan you spot weld on both shoes or just one? & do you spot weld on top, or what.
I'll go back & read some more in morning.....I'm beat tonite!

ttman4 said:

This is old post but very good ! I'm doing my rear brakes tomorrow on my '90 CC Dually. Looking at old shoes today & they seem to have been doing OK> Will ck out new shoes tomorrow & may do a bit of mig spot welding.
Never really got everything, but @Garbage_Mechan you spot weld on both shoes or just one? & do you spot weld on top, or what.
I'll go back & read some more in morning.....I'm beat tonite!

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Thanks for reviving this. It is REALLY good info.

I think my truck might have this issue as well. I replaced all the brake hardware last year, including parking brake cables, and my parking brake still doesn’t hold. Plus the brakes seem to lock up / drag when I’m braking while reversing sometimes. I’m going to take a look at this when I get some time to work on the truck. Thanks for resurrecting this post!

I have the same concern...I did the rear brakes, hoses, hub bearings, seals, parking brake cables and routed them more 'gently' (sweeping curves instead of sharp ones...)...and despite my adjusting them 'just right'...I have a loose parking brake...it holds 'just' enough...but not real tight like I usually like...

I have the Ranger brakes adjusted up so I have just two clicks on the PB ratchet before lock up...plenty of room for wear loosening...

But...on the 'Ol One-Ton...not so much...and I was worried about it and carried a couple of chocks with me...potentially a real circus...

I just ordered new shoes after carefully studying the pictures so graciously provided...and I 'get' it...if I have to modify them with the MIG...well....just more experience to stack on top of what I already have...I live in hilly country and I gotta have a good PB...

I hafta thank you guys for giving me this bit of insight on such an important subject...when it is all said and done...you have probably saved me a lot of trouble...

Thanks again...

P.S.... The subject came up some time ago...shoe width...my truck is a dually one-ton and 3 inch shoes are what is on it...

THANKS for the excellent pictorial.

One point to consider if one installs new brake shoes and does not perform the above pictured modifications is, the brand-new improperly made shoes just might have enough purchase for the actuator to engage the first hundred or so times and lead one to believe that their new shoes are not affected by the problem; however, with each application, the actuator is displacing metal and climbing a little bit farther over the edge, until it wears the top edge into a ramp; and, from that day forward, instead of spreading the shoes, the actuator will just climb over them.

Sometimes, all this displaced metal will form into a big burr hook that the actuator can hang up on and cause the brake shoe to hang and drag; the only remedy being to pull the drum and grind away the burr --- and while you're in there, just fix the shoe like pictured.


Another thing to consider, the leading edges of the actuator prongs have been wearing and rounding over just as much as the horns on the shoes; when one is welding and reshaping the shoe horns, they should also reface and square off the actuator prongs.

The actuators were meant to be a replaceable part that should have been replaced every other brake change; there is a reason why they are a separate piece from the brake lever itself; when doing brake jobs, everybody ignored the actuators and nobody ever replaced them; so, there was not much demand for new replacements and thus Dorman nor anyone else took it upon themselves to mass-produce them and now they are scarcer than hen's teeth and all the ones out there are worn out and rounded over, exacerbating the poorly made brake shoe problem.