Brake Shoes

[terryb]

Anybody know a civvy part # for brake shoes?

[brute4c]

There is a way to adapt a civilian shoe....this is a repost from WetCJ:

Got my truck driveable just weeks before the 04 FE but it needed brakes. Had read about and knew that Joe/IA was using the "#60" brake shoes. MikeG (who I work with) convinced the local O'Reillys to sell them to us at about $35 since we'd be buying several sets between my truck and his fleet. Required different upper springs also, Raybestos #H122 is what we used.
I installed the new shoes with new wheel cylinders(from ABLinn) on the rear first. Got the wife to come down and help me bleed it. After about a half an hour she was tired and I was ed, could not get a decent pedal (should mention that I had previously installed a new 1970 Impala, drum/ drum, dual 1" master cyl. so I knew that wasn't an issue). Tried adjusting the brakes up tighter and found that it didn't seem to adjust properly. I always adjust them out tight then back them off the same number of "clicks" on both sides and something just didn't feel right in that process. Took a drum back off the next night and after staring at it for a while decided that the position of the anchor pin at the top of the backing plate didn't allow the shoes to center properly, it tried to position them too high in the drum.
Since the shoes looked identical to the originals other than the top and a minor difference in the adjuster notch depth (which the adjuster could compensate for) I decided to modify them.
I made this jig



Original shoe in jig



Unmodified #60 shoe



Cutting the shoe



Cut, just clean up with a file



This bump on the bottom of the shoe needs to be ground flat also (insides only) to work with the M715 backing plate, don't try hammering flat, shoe will crack (voice of experience)



Installed

After doing both axles this way they adjusted properly, bled properly (wife was happier) and worked good with very little pedal travel.


Note- I did mine this way because I liked the idea of locally available parts and they were cheaper than original shoes at that time which may not be true anymore.

[Cornholio]

I just bought some similar Chevy drum shoes made by Satisfied brake here in town. They look very similar to the ones in the above photos. I was wondering if anybody has tried running them without cutting off the top portion. The reason why I ask is they seem to fit up nicely against the round center top pin IF you pull off the trapezoid spacer/adapter.

Again, I have no idea if they would work and don't know what the stock Chevy drum setup looks like.

Finally, half of the new shoes are slightly thicker then the other half. I was thinking of replacing the most worn shoe on each drum with the thicker of the new shoe...sound good to you all?

Thanks for your help again guys.

[randyscycle]

They didn't fit well against the round pin at the top when I tried that myself. I still had to cut the top portion of the shoe off to make them work.

They look like they would, but, no.

[al/qc/ca]

James They will fit but won't work..
I'm on vacation now give me a shout I can give you a hand this week.

[adk4x4]

Let us not forget the arrow on the trap block must point forward according to the quirk manual. I just finished my re-cyl job and then found out I had 50% wrong!!

[Binford]

I just finished my re-cyl job and then found out I had 50% wrong!!

What are the odds of that happening?!





















Oh, wait a minute......

[Jester]

What is the actual NAPA part number for the shoes and the springs? Getting tired of the "what vehicle is this off" response from the parts counter.

[Jester]

Can anyone confirm that the vehicle they fit is a 94 chevy K3500 4WD SRW?

Part number I get from Autozone and Part America is 451. Picture appears to be what is shown above.

13 x 2-1/2" shoe

txs

[randyscycle]

The part number I used is #60 or TS60 NAPA. Then you need the return springs which are United/NAPA #81233

The shoes were $60.00 for the set and the springs were $10.00 back in April of this year.