At what thickness do you replace drum brakes

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My customers wait until the rivits are grinding into the drum
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. I did an older aerostar Thursday and when I took off the drums, springs and self adjusters hit the floor!
 
I'm just being arbitrary, but perhaps 1/8" of friction material or less and I'd replace. Based upon MY experience I stick with OEM, NEW shoes, no reman. stuff. I also like to replace the hardware when I do the shoes. They generally last a VERY long time.
 
Meh, Rear drummies are cheap and available. They are mostly for an E brake. If you replace the shoes early, you can forestall replacing everything. Shoes and hardware kits are best replaced before needed. When I replaced the shoes,wheel cylinders , hardware kits, it was all sourced from Auto Zone and such. I'm not going nuts on a vehicle crude enough to need rear drums. Helpful hint, When working on drum brakes, remove both drums before proceeding. Always keep one side intact as a reference. Complete parts list was about 50$ a wheel for new everything. I kept the drums and rotors. Everything else was new on the Ranger, by the time the crumbling stopped.
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Originally Posted By: DBMaster
Based upon MY experience I stick with OEM, NEW shoes, no reman. stuff.


I didn't realize that you could even get reman brake shoes anymore, unless it was something that had been sitting on the shelf for a decade.
However, reman shoes are still the norm on larger trucks, for example something like an F500 or similar.
 
Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
Based upon MY experience I stick with OEM, NEW shoes, no reman. stuff.


I didn't realize that you could even get reman brake shoes anymore, unless it was something that had been sitting on the shelf for a decade.
However, reman shoes are still the norm on larger trucks, for example something like an F500 or similar.

Napa doesn't even sell new shoes, only reman ones.
 
I run 'em down to about 2mm, maybe even a little further if it's even.

But they wear out so slowly they get cracked and glassy/glazed at which time they go.

I run the cheap silver ones from advance; they are usually rebuilt. I figure if they wear faster, maybe they'll keep from getting glazed from non-use.
 
They have 124, 000 on them. That picture is a little deceiving. The bottom is thinner than the top. The bottom is only as think as an average piece of cardboard.
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
I think in PA state minimum is 1/32 riveted, 2/32 bonded.


That's right. I just inspected my mother's LTD and her shoes were 2/32 above rivets. More than adequate for one more year of her driving. I also told her she will need new ones next year. She'll wind up with about 14-15k on the set.
 
Your factory service manual will tell you the wear limits.

If you don't have a factory service manual, you can get AllData for $16.95 a year.
 
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