Thread: drum brakes

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Hi, I've got the drum/disc brake setup on my 71 truck and am redoing the drum brakes-pretty much everything new, shoes, hardware, wheel cylinders, drums-and found that the parking brake is not there. The lever that the cable attachs to is missing and the cable was cut off at the frame. Doesn't even come into the drum. My ? is do I need the strut bar that goes from front shoe to the parking brake arm that isn't there? I can't find the oval shaped springs that go over the end on the bar and the old ones are what caused most of the problem leading to re-doing my brakes to start with. Does this strut bar hold the shoes in line any or just for the parking brake? Would I be safe leaving it out alltogether? Thanks for any ideas

If you leave that bar out, your parking brake wont work, but I figure you know that. All it really does is push the front shoe against the drum.

You need the bar and the springs that keep it from rattling.

Hey, thanks everyone. I never used the park brake anyway so I'm not going to chase down all the pieces that are missing if they will work without .The cable holder is still in the backing plate but the cable stops on the frame a foot away from the rearend. If they don't rattle around and work good I'll leavw well enough alone.

Beleave me you don't want an e brake on that truck anyway. I have had several of those trucks and when you set the brake in the winter your there till spring. I figure Park works just fine or leave it in gear on stick .

ya know, i can never remember: big shoe or small shoe on the front?

Thanks