ok, couple weeks ago my rear brakes locked up. Me and my friend threw it in reverse and put it in his drive way and took the drums off the back on and i drove home with horrible gas milage and the brakes still locked but able enough to drive. Today i took my car out of storage and proceded to replace the brake shoes and springs. Well as i always am whenever i get to work on my car i got to excited and forgot to take pics . I know how the brakes go on and how all the springs go, but i forget to check if the driver side brake assembly is opposit of the passenger side.

So i get everything assembled(and the DR side is the same as the PASS side) and i put the drum on the DR side without any trouble. But the Pass side drum wont go on, i even put the self adjuster to as short as it gets. Its like the E-Brake is only on that side .

So my question is this...
Are the DR side and PASS side brake assemblys supposed to be opposit of eachother?

Tomorrow im gonna take everything off and do it again, sorry for such a long thread but i wanted to get all the info in

THX!

 

It should only go together one way. This is one of the few times that a Haynes, or Chiltons comes in handy with their pictures of the drum brakes all disassembled. Personally I just lay the parts out as it comes apart and put it back together as it's laid out. Take a good look at the old parts and look where the shiny spots are from moving parts, and you should be able to find some hints how it was together. Also I'd recommend checking your ebrake cables, and wheel cylinders.

Check to make sure the pad backing is on top of the backing plate and not stuck in the outer groove. It's possible to stretch the springs to place with the pads resting in the outer groove but they'll be further apart then they should be.

 

i got both of them on and put them both on the same way but its like the e-brake is stuck. Im know its just probally the e-brake cable but im just concerned if their supposed to be opp of eachother. The Chiltons book says that the driver side should be slightly opp of the pass side. but it only gives the pics of the pass side and the driver side comes out he same way.

anyway, i'll check the cable again and hope for the best

thx