Yesterday I did my first drum brake job and discovered that the parking brake lever on the passenger side was installed onto the cable backwards by a PO. It took me over an hour to realize why I couldn't properly re-assemble the drum so I never got to do the driver side.

However, one thing that has been bothering me is that I noticed on the passenger side, The big shoe was installed towards the back of the car with the parking brake lever hooked to it. On the driver side, the parking brake lever is still installed to the the big shoe, however everything is backwards compared to the passenger side. The big shoe is installed towards the front of the car as well as the parking lever. Is this correct?

 

Sounds right to me, but I haven't seen a drum rear in a long time.

 

I thought that with drum brakes, it was considered correct to have the big shoe mounted towards the back of the car on both wheels. I'm not sure on that though.

 

Not sure if the big shoe goes forward or back, but it should
DEFINITELY be the same on both wheels.

If I were to hazard a guess, it would be that the parking brake
primarily actuates the big shoe.

Let me check my service manual for any better info.

kk

 

This is incorrect the primary or short shoe should be installed on the front of the vehicle. If your parking brake cable come in thru the rear of the backing plate then the parking lever should be on the front shoe for better tension. Im sure either way would work but im thinking you do not want to be the one to find out.

I am in the middle of replacing a wheel cylinder on my driver side drum cuz it was leaking. Have everything perfect except I cant figure out how the pawl fits. Any suggestions??