Hi,

Sorry for such a newbie question, but shouldn’t the rear brake shoes on a 1967 Camaro be of different sizes? I’m pretty sure the front shoe should be shorter right? That’s what I’ve taken off the car and that’s what I’ve always thought they should be. An online supplier I order shoes from sent me 4 of the same length. All the holes and angles on the metal part of the shoes match so I think it would mount ok, but is that going to be a problem some how? Will the shoes bind or something incorrectly when stopping? If the front shoe can actually be longer then why didn’t they do that from the factory? Wondering if anyone knows if this is ok while I’m waiting to hear back from the supplier.

Thanks,
Steve

 

With drum brakes there are primary and secondary shoes. The primary shoes job is just to push the secondary shoes into the drum. The secondary shoe stops the car. The primary shoe (front) does not need to as big as the secondary shoe. Back in the day they where always less braking material on the primary shoes. Today with much lower volumes and automated production the cost of having two different part numbers is much greater than what a manufacturer will save in material. That means both pads are the same.

Having more material on the primary pad will not hurt anything. It will just have 3 times the life of the secondary pad. Of course ASE requires the pads be sold in pairs so you will through away good primary pads with every brake job.

 

Thanks Gorn! Thats what I was hoping to hear.

 

On my car I have different size drums front and rear. One is taller than the other one. I guess front is taller so I would assume pads are wider on front.
I ordered a set of front from RockAuto and they offer Front and Rear sets so I assume there is a difference.

 

Thanks Eric, my questions was about a single pair of shoes that are the same size for one wheel. My understanding was the shorter shoe would be on the front side of the wheel and the longer on the back. Thats what came off and the supplier sent me shoes that are the same size. Anyway I'm going to mount them up and see I have any issues.

 

Front drums are usually larger in diameter and width.

 

Sorry I misunderstood.
Yes original shoes on same drum are 2 different size.
I ordered replacements (not received yet) and from the picture on the seller's website, they seems to be the same size. But that's just a picture.

 

I ended up putting them on my car and there doesn't seem to be an issue. At least not yet :0 I wrote the supplier (ss396.com btw) but never heard if it was normal to ship the same size shoes or it was a packing mistake.