Drum brake hold-down spring orientation

[rreegg]

I've been having intermittent but persistent issues with the hold down springs popping off on the passenger side of an 88 f250. The part kit i have (napa) has both red and green hold down springs. I thought usually red colored parts mean "right" and have used two red springs on the passenger side. Is this operator error? I have had no issues with the driver side. Am researching this a bit and now believe the each side side should have both a red and green spring used.

Is there a definitive answer on this? Can't find anything on oilbuners but some mentions on other sites, nothing definitive though.

Below is a pic from abother site (https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1472425-doing-f250-rear-brakes.html) and there's also a pic from an early 70s(?) manual. On this one the "forward" spin direction seems important

Any help or thoughts on this is appreciated, thanks

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[rreegg]

Here’s a picture of the part kit I have. The red springs here are the ones that popped off last time. Thought I was diligent about replacing things in the same orientation across brake jobs but things likely drifted a bit.
The red and green springs are mirror versions of each other to be explicit

 

[rreegg]

Last post on this: The thing that's most confusing to me about this is how the hardware kits come with 4x red springs and 2x green springs (my napa kit from above is the same). Just like this pic from a kit from rock auto

 

[franklin2]

Is your "hook" that spring engages with in good shape and not bent? This is a hokey setup isn't it? I suppose it's a Bendix design or one of those companies. Ford never seemed to do their brakes in house very much.

 

[rreegg]

@franklin2 yeah I replace the hook every time with new because the old ones are missing

This is a poor design but seems to work well when it does..

using the shop diagram attached above I reaffixed new green springs keeping in mind the rotation of the wheel. At this point I strongly believe this was the culprit. With the self adjusting brakes I wonder if the spring were “slipping off” the hooks the wrong way.

Time will tell I suppose.

 

[Nero]

I have never seen the green springs, and I've used napa's kits on 5 trucks...

 

[rreegg]

@Nero dang weird, I see kits both with/without but am just grasping at straws

 

[franklin2]

@franklin2 yeah I replace the hook every time with new because the old ones are missing

This is a poor design but seems to work well when it does..

using the shop diagram attached above I reaffixed new green springs keeping in mind the rotation of the wheel. At this point I strongly believe this was the culprit. With the self adjusting brakes I wonder if the spring were “slipping off” the hooks the wrong way.

Time will tell I suppose.

Yes, that common brake design lets the complete brake assembly "twist around" when you apply the brakes. That movement jams the rear shoe against the drum and the heavy pin at the top. They call that "servo action" and is why drum brakes take less pedal pressure than disc brakes. And that is also why the rear brake shoe is longer than the front one, the rear brake shoe does more braking when it's jammed against that pin.

This movement is also how the auto adjuster/star wheel gets wiped across and self adjusts. That being said, I have had many different brands of vehicles where this auto adjust feature does not work. Every oil change I have to go back and give the star wheel a few cranks with a screwdriver.

 

[Black dawg]

I've been having intermittent but persistent issues with the hold down springs popping off on the passenger side of an 88 f250. The part kit i have (napa) has both red and green hold down springs. I thought usually red colored parts mean "right" and have used two red springs on the passenger side. Is this operator error? I have had no issues with the driver side. Am researching this a bit and now believe the each side side should have both a red and green spring used.

Is there a definitive answer on this? Can't find anything on oilbuners but some mentions on other sites, nothing definitive though.

Below is a pic from abother site (https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1472425-doing-f250-rear-brakes.html) and there's also a pic from an early 70s(?) manual. On this one the "forward" spin direction seems important

Any help or thoughts on this is appreciated, thanks

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Have always just used the red springs.
Have never even heard of this happening until this. Do you have the old brake shoes to compare that hole location to? Think I would be welding something to the hold down pin to make the spring go through a loop instead of just being hooked at the end.
Also, is the adjuster cable over the top of thathold down pin?

 

[rreegg]

@Black dawg replaced the spring with a red one today. The cablw adjuster routes behind the spring and rear plate I think. Regardless the spring that popped off today was not the adjuster side.
I like the idea to modify the hook to disallow ejection, wrapped some wire around things which seems stable