Same length drumb shoe linings?

[robbor]

Anyone ever try going to long full lenght lining on both primary and secondary shoes for better braking? I remember an old hotrod article and was looking for it online but cant find anything on it.

[ChevLoRay]

Interesting idea. Don't know how well it would work on these trucks. GM had an option for the brakes to go with a wider shoe/drum...i.e., 2 1/2 inches vs. 2-inches. I've seen "upgrade" packages for this from Early Classic Enterprises.

Without looking, my damaged brain can't recall the longer vs. shorter shoe position, but it seems the longer one is the rear shoe because as the vehicle is rolling forward, applying the brakes will actually have the rear shoe contacting the drum, first. But, last time I opened box of replacement shoes....one was short and one was long, per side. So, you'll be looking to find someone who relines shoes to make you what you want.

There was a company called "Praise Brake Dyno" that made brake shoes for drum brakes, using a proprietary lining that I think also contained some Kevlar. You might want to look into those..

[Stocker]

I dunno..... there's a reason they are designed to used a shorter shoe in front. Not sure I'd try to out-guess the engineers when it comes to brakes (or much of anything else, for that matter).

FWIW, some brakes used equal-length shoes, and the front shoes used a different lining material than the rear shoes. They were color-coded so you could tell which was which. The lighter colored shoes went in the front position and the darker ones in the rear position.

[Lee H]

Last set of shoes I got from Car Quest were all the same size. No difference in primary VS secondary. I asked the clerk and was told their vendor uses the same size front and back. Must be a money saving idea.

[SS Tim]

Originally Posted by Lee H

Last set of shoes I got from Car Quest were all the same size. No difference in primary VS secondary. I asked the clerk and was told their vendor uses the same size front and back. Must be a money saving idea.

That is what they do. Take them to the most common point they can then let the user assemble the provided parts. That way they can manufacture less variations and the stores can stock less different numbers and still cover everyone.

Sorry, But cheap "fits all" and "lifetime" brake shoes/pads are a poor replacement for the OEM spec brakes. Countless hours are spent tuning friction material size and type for the best overall performance. If you don't use OEM pads get the best you can justify. They can get expensive but there is a difference and generally worth it.

[ubtripn]

I just went through brake shoe boot camp, the front "shorter" shoe is designed to serve as an actuator for the brake system in the drum as a whole. It triggers the rear which fully engages when the brake pedal is engaged. Now I don't know if having a bigger front would help this, stop this or interfere. I can say that new linings, hardware and drums resulting in great stopping power for my truck. I have power assist as well. No different than disks for me by feel during daily driving. However, in an emergency stop the difference would be VERY apparent.