New brake shoes....cant get drums back on!!!!

[superbuick3]

so i just finished installing my new brake shoes, and i went to put the drum cover back on and it is too tight! i tried adjusting the brakes using the hexagon nuts on the backplate but it is doing no good to getting this drum on any easier. any help? thanks!

[Hans]

By too tight, do you men you get it all the way on and it won't urn, or, you can't get it started? If latter, sometimes the shoes need to be moved up or down a titch. Make sure shoes are seated properly, and pistons are fully recessed in cylinder (squeeze both shoes together)

[tim385]

Recently had the same problem , used all the max adjust avail but it still wouldnt fit, close but not close enough .So a bit of grinding of the metal on the bottom end of the shoe, where it locates at the bottom , slightly filed out a bit on the adjuster hole and it fits fine . I didnt really need to take much off.Maybe the linings are thicker than original of the metal backing shoe is different, who knows .Ive run into the same thing twice on different cars. After everything was put back together and adjusted its great .

[M3M3]

ahhhh, did you completely back off the ebrake adjusters on the ebrake handle?

[OriginalOwner]

+1 Marshall. Make sure you "un-adjust" all the adjustments in the system: e-brake cables, backing-plate adjusters, whatever.

I once had to slightly open the brake bleeder screw, this allowed a tiny bit of brake fluid out of the cylinder and allowed the shoes to move inward enough to clear.

Cheers,

Carl

[M3M3]

and what brand shoes did you install. there is a chance they have too much material on them. some race shoes i installed did. had to use 60grit sandpaper to trim the edges of the shoe material to get the drums on. (after backing off adjusters, loosening ebrakes, lining up pads, compressing brake cyl, etc.)