hey, i'm starting my brake job today, and a friends gonna come over and help me, but i had a question first.

i have all the parts to put my shoes and drums back on, and i was about to start yesterday, but it was late, and i came upon a problem.


on the brake shoes there is a raised edge where the pad doesn't go all the way to the edge, but its only on one side, i didn't know which side should go on the backplate-the flat side or the raised side........if anyone knows lmk..


also, should I fill the brake fluid in now, or after i have the shoes and drums back on........?

 

!

 

If it is what I'm thinking of, the flat side is up against the plate. It has to be in order to put the spring etc. on correctly. The shoes only go on one way, you cannot flip them.

 

oh?

 

If you are that unsure, you might want to get someone over there to help.

 

he said he had friends coming over. i dont know anything about drum brakes, sucks for you, but good luck.

 

Sorry, I did not re-read the original.... my mistake. As long as your friend has done them before you'll be in good shape. Good luck.

 

yeah, ill have help in a minute, does anyone know if i should go ahead and enter the brake fluid now, or after i ut everything on though?

 

If you look at the shoes carefully, you will see that one has a surface that is smaller (shorter) than the other. Make sure the short one goes in front. You can wait until the shoes are on before putting in the fluid unless your MC is almost dry.

 

I'll guessing you are going to bleed the brakes after install...so just hold off until all hardware is installed and ready to be bled. Be sure to bleed the lines a couple of times from right rear, left rear, right front, left front order (99% sure of the order). Farthest to closest to master cylinder.

Don't envy you...brake jobs are usually messing dirty jobs. Wear some latex gloves and clean all parts really well. Take pics also unless you have a photographic memory. I did a video of our brake job so my son can watch it when he has to do it himself at some point.