Are these shoes too thin? (pics)

[fng]

I haven't measured them but they have about 1/16th of meat above the rivet heads and maybe 3/32" furthur down the shoe. How thick is a new shoe, I'm thinking maybe 1/4"?
The front drum is fairly smooth but the rear is a little grooved and could use a little clean-up. Post up and advise, thanks. Oh and thanks Jon for the drill out tips, I used the same technique and it worked faster than all the other junk I was trying.
LR wheel front shoe:

LR wheel rear shoe:


Also on the front wheel cylender only one of the pistons move outward with pedal pressure, does this mean it's bad?

[fng]

Btt

[george walker]

In many state saftey insp. an service manuals 2/32 is considered the wear limit for the shoes when any rivet reaches that measurment its time, also yes if only one side of the cyl is operating its frozen. if you were to ck you might find others are also, not uncommon if one was able to seize just as likley others did to or are close to it.

[brute4c]

Glad it helped...I know it was frustrating me and I had to do something...then it was easy.

I posted a reply on the shoes in your other thread...but didnt know the thickness then...

A new shoe IS ¼ inch thick. I would measure them up for sure and see what you have...shoot a pic of each shoe we can see the full shoe from top to bottom with a little bit of side angle to shoe a bit of depth....if you understand what I mean...

The fact that one drum is smoother and one is rougher could be from mud/grit getting in there when someone was wheeling and it made things rough...it could be a bad wheel cylinder too...

If you can get someone to press on the brake pedal with just one drum off, front or rear...press just enough that you can see that both sides are moving ok...DONT push the pedal hard...

If it has been some time...or never...since the wheel cylinders have been opened up, you probably should...remember, your brakes and your front end are your life...you HAVE to have those...the engine, trans, etc...they can go and you will live...the brakes or the front end....never take chances.

Always glad to help!

[Barrman]

Dude, first the glow in the dark orange e-brake. Now you have pink brake shoes. I just don't know about you people in Arkansas.

Just for reference. I probably put more miles on a M715 a year than 95% of the people on here. The brake shoes wear very little. I did the Chevy shoe conversion almost 2 years ago now and can't really see any noticable wear on them yet. Except for towing M715 sized loads more than 1000 miles last year or so, I run empty most of the time and use the engine to slow me down unless it is a "STOP NOW!" kind of situation. That 3/32 thickness you have will probably last you 8-15K miles of normal driving.

Basically, adjust them out so the pedal is high. By the time they wear the pedal half way to the floor you will be down to 1/16 left.

New is of course better. But, running what you have and patiently getting the parts you want will probably save you a lot and give you an excuse to do a 5K mile bearing service.

[fng]

Mannnn, that ain't Pink! Thats Carcenogen Cranberry! hahahaha
Sooo, you think I could get by with these for awhile? I'm running into problems finding anywhere to turn my drums, but I did find a shop that will reline my shoes about 20 miles away.
I ordered the wheel cyl's from napa today. I used the numbers from the other post for the Furd F-250 3/4 ton van. I'll be putting those in no matter what.
Is there some place that will turn my drums that I could send them off to? I would rather pay just a little extra to a place that's done them before than have some local experimenting with mine.

[FSJGuy]

I used a Denver company who did brake linings for commercial applications. He didn't have any problems with it. Put a semi-metallic lining on it and even set it up for my drums' TRUE diameter for more even wear. Anyone who has done truck brakes before shouldn't have a problem.

That said, the place is Americal Industrial Brake in Arvada, CO.

[george walker]

Many of these trucks have had alot of drum wear an maybe been turned a time or two an new drums are more or less non exsistent. So as the drum diameter gets bigger the curve "arc" of the drum changes, and the shoe arc is still matched to a new drum, so if you layed a new shoe in an old drum you will see the shoe curve doesnt match the drum arc. This results in less shoe lining contacting the drum, faster wear of the shoe an less braking performance. the correction for this is to have the shoes "re-arced", once a common practice now few shops have even heard of it. (they just sell new drums not an opt. for us) By sanding down the new lining in a different arc it can be rematched to the current diameter of the drum this procedure does take off some of the new lining but better shoe to drum contact will make up for it some with better even wear an performance. sounds like fsj guy found a shop that still does this procedure

[brute4c]

The manuals list this procedure for making up the difference between the turned drum and the shoe:

Note. Using brake drum micrometer, check all drums. Should a brake drum be rough and scored, it may be reconditioned by grinding or turning in a lathe. Do not remove more than .030” thickness of metal, .060” overall diameter. If a drum is reconditioned in this manner, either the correct factory-supplied, oversize lining .030” must be installed, or a shim equal in thickness to the metal removed must be placed between the lining and shoe so that the arc of the lining will be the same as that of the drum.

[Binford]

Many of these trucks have had alot of drum wear an maybe been turned a time or two an new drums are more or less non exsistent.

Yeah, I'd be nervous turning these drums. I'll avoid it if I can since once it's out of spec, it'll be nutty-expensive to buy a new one! Way cheaper to buy new axles, for sure....