Brake drum / shoe matchup

**intune** · #1 (**permalink**) 04-22-2009, 11:30 AM

Re-posting here:
Just had my Giulietta race car brake shoes relined with Kevlar. The person who did the work matched the drums by the number 1 on the sinestro (left) drum and 2 on the dextro (right) drum with corresponding 1 and 2 on the shoes. He insists that how he has done it for years. The trouble is, they don't match. The 2 shoes only fit on the left, the 1 shoes only on the right. Anyone have any thoughts or information about what's going on?

**Gordon Raymond** · #2 (**permalink**) 04-22-2009, 11:42 AM

The way this is SUPPOSED to be done it to first turn the drums to get the same ID and parallel grove free faces. Then the shoes are lined, bonded or bonded and riveted, with a lining that is slightly too thick at the toe and heal. Then the shoes are placed in a cutter that is adjustable for the ID of the drums, and "arched", being cut with a cutter or grinder to match the arch of the drum AND have the correct lining thickness to allow proper adjustment.
With the major use of disc brakes, the shop that has this specialized equipment in my area is either a shop that does truck drums, or an old (read Knowledgeable) guy, maybe retired, that saved his tools! My preference os the latter. Things fit, and work as they are supposed to, and you get no arguments or lectures. Sometimes drums and shoes must be shipped away to find drum brake talent. This is just my opinion.

**intune** · #3 (**permalink**) 04-26-2009, 06:52 PM

I'm sure that the job was done correctly, just questioning the way he matched the shoes and drums. The new shoes seem to fit well in either drum, so I'm confident they will work fine. Just looking to see if anyone knows the reasoning behind the numbers not matching, or if they're even supposed to.