marder

I'm working on the drivers side rear brakes on my 97 Dodge 3500 DRW 4x4 and the nail on the right side of this assembly doesn't seem to be long enough to put the Spring and the keeper on it. Its only coming through about 1/4". There's no way the spring will fit. Anyone know anything about this?

When I pulled the drum off the spring and keeper weren't even there. I'm guessing the previous owner couldn't put it in either and left it off?

I went to Oreillys and picked up a spring kit. The nail in this kit is the same length as the old nail that was in the left side of the assembly. Is the nail on the right side longer? The right side has that plate that sits inside on top of the shoe and the nail has to go through both of these. That makes this side thicker so it makes sense that the nail should be longer on this side in order for the spring and keeper to fit. Clear as mud? If anyone could shed some light on this I'd appreciate it. I need to use this truck soon and I am at a stand still with it.

NJTman

By nail, you mean the bent retaining hook that goes through the backing plate to the retainer spring ??

Spring and keeper ? IS a Dana 80 different than the standard Dana brakes seen here ? not sure of what a keeper is


Both hooks are the same length. The issue is that you have not properly aligned the shoes properly, or the E-brake lever is too tight, expanding the shoes. This is very easy to do.

Easiest way to get the alignment correct is to install the other shoe, install the springs as they're supposed to be (use the other side of the truck as a reference if necessary, or pics on the net) turn the adjuster all the way in to relieve as much tension as possible, and make sure the E brake lever is expanded as far away from center as possible (usually touching the inside of the rearward shoe).

Sometimes it can be a pain. I just did my rear brakes, and experienced the difficulty you're facing right now.

Best way to deal with it, because by the springs being installed, the wheel cylinders are fully depressed inwards, which is necessary to get the alignment of the spring and hook.

It's also possible that you have the springs in the wrong holes.

marder

Mine isn't like that. Here is a pic I took before I removed everything. If you look on the left brake shoe in the middle there is a compressed spring with a small keeper in the center of it. There is a stud with a flat on the end of it that I am calling the nail. It goes in from the back side of the assembly base then through the shoe, spring and it twists into the keeper. Those flats rest in two recesses of that keeper and hold everything flush to that brake assembly brake. The problem is the right side shoe has an additional plate that the brake adjuster star wheel rides against and this increase the thickness that the nail has to go through on that side. It doesn't leave enough of the nail exposed on this side to put the spring and keeper on. The shoe is completely flush against the base and the nail just isn't long enough. I'm baffled. I guess I could make one longer. Something just doesn't seem right. Thanks for you input.

u2slow

1stgens and many Fords use the hook thingy retainer (Bendix brakes). 2ndgens are more like Chevy brakes.

I suspect your hardware kit is the problem.... either mis-packaged or the wrong kit. Some kits include two different length 'nails'. The Dana 60/70/80 SRW use narrower shoes than the DRW.

Also take a close look at your backing plates. IIRC, Chevy used different plates depending on the shoe width... maybe Dodge does the same. And maybe the backing plate has been replaced with the wrong one. However, it seems odd that DRW drum will still work with the 'shallower' SRW backing plate. Hmmm....

I can't quite picture it. Did you use the long nails in spots where a shorter one will work? IIRC, the 2ndgen Dodge has the parking brake cables coming out the front on one side, and out the rear on the other, causing most of the brake hardware to be the same rather than mirrored.

marder

I just made a longer one out of one of those rods used in needle peeners. Seemed to fit up OK. I still have to replace a brake line before I can try it out. We will see.

Bruce M

Marder,
Can you show a couple pictures of how the brake springs attache to the shoes?
I have the same backing plates that I had sent to me with the shoes, springs,and drums all apart in a box.
I am converting an axle from inboard to outboard drums.

u2slow

Found this...

NJTman

Looks like the e brake cable lever in your photo is pulled to the position of applying the brakes to the on or pushed outwards position. There should be no spacing at the shoes top position horn hub where it meets the center 12 o clock point. Maybe its my phone, but it looks like the shoes are spread open at the top , in the applied position. T he shoehorn on both shoes needs to rest Against the hub at the top

Funny, second gens went back to the old pin and circular retainer setup


In my experience, the E brake lever should be "closer" the red line I posted in the attached pic, as it appears to me, at least that the cable is holding the e brake lever too far forwards, expanding the shoes apart. This would make installing the shoe "keeper spring and little circular clips" impossible to install. You should check to make sure that the E brake cable isn't frozen in the "pulled forwards position". There should be no spacing between each brake shoe "horn" and the center pivot at the 12 oclock position arrowed in Blue.

Bruce M

u2slow,
How does the 2nd generation emergency brake cable connect to the arm?
I am trying to connect a 1st generation cable to a 2nd generation arm.
The other option is to get the two 2nd generation emergency brake cables from a junk yard and connect them at the adjusting point where the single cable goes to the hand brake?

u2slow

I can't remember how it hooks up inside the drum. Might be pics on rockauto of the cable ends.

I'm running 2ndgen cables. Wasn't hard to rig up.

Dana 80 swap - westcoast style - Dodge Ram, Ramcharger, Cummins, Jeep, Durango, Power Wagon, Trailduster, all Mopar Truck & SUV Owners. Dodgeram

marder

<



Hmm...just saw this. That would explain the squealing I sometimes hear and the grease dripping from the drum. Things must be getting hot back there. I should check my bearing. Do you have to take the diff cover off and pull the circlip to get the bearing out?

u2slow

On a full-floater, only the 8 axle flange bolts hold the shaft in. No C-clip.