Quote:

Thanks guys, I'll do some thorough cleaning.

Thanks Mike,
No, I didn't center with the pedal during reassembly. I typically eye-ball the advance screw and cog wheel, and try making the shoes as equally advanced as possible before sliding the drums on.

Final manual shoe advance was done with the drums on and that's when I would get in the car and check the brake pedal felt reasonably hard.
I think I'll repeat the shoe advance adjustment process.

And thanks - I'll check for any unusual wear pattern on the pads.

A condition that could cause my symptom is if three-of-four brake cylinders were sticking every time the car sat for 10+ hours. The one "good" cylinder gets all the pressure the first time, then the other three cylinders become unstuck after the first applications of brake and they all work fine after that.






Art, so there's no confusion on either behalf,

With the drum off, adjust the star adjuster so the pads are out as much as possible to allow the drum to fit, attach drum/wheel assy, then pump the pedal once to center the shoes, while turning/rotating/spinning the wheel/drum (fronts with wheel off ok, rears need the wheel bolted on, or a nut(s) hold the drum in place, I prefer the wheels on) adjust the brakes with an adjuster "spoon" until you just hear a slight contact, then pump the brakes again to further center the shoes, spin the wheel/drum assy again until you hear slight contact, then repeat, pump/spin/adjust until the contact is barely heard/felt and any amount of pumping and centering the brake shoes yeilds the same results, then proceed to the next wheel...then road test, see what you get?



FYI, it's your choice, but back in the day when I worked in the shop, common practice on drum brake install was to bevel the outer edge of the shoes linings with a quick pass of a grinder so that the linings would make full contact with the drum(s) rather than the edge of the lining, which after it quickly wore would result in some of the issues you've mentioned, just thought I'd mention it so you can save the time of pulling the wheels again...

Mike