How often do you change the rear brake shoes?

Supposed to be self adjusting; and if you regularly use the parking brake, they are. Should feel SLIGHT drag when you rotate the tire up in the air.

 

I finally had the rear brakes re-built at 258,000 miles on my '07. Shoes were mostly used up at that point.
Haven't looked at the rear brakes on my '14, but it only has 52,000 miles.

 

YT has a nice video on rear brakes

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O-yN4LFlC6g

 

I pull my rear drums every year, clean and re-grease the points that rub when they move.
I also grind that little ridge off the drums with a flap wheel on an angle grinder. If it's very deep, yes, you will likely break something or pull the retainer pins when you remove the drum.
I'm at 163,000 miles and the last time I pulled mine, they still had a lot of material left on them. I have the new shoes, but won't replace them until I really need to.
It's probably overkill but I bleed, clean and re-bed my brakes yearly.

 

IMO bolts should only be used to break any rust between the hub and the drum. From there if you cant force the drum off by hand you should wind the adjuster in.

But again adjusters are never set correctly on these trucks, so its a moot point

 

185k and never touched the rear shoes except to dump the dust out every oil change.

 

Mine are always set right!

 

I have 150k on mine. Been wondering when to change them. Shop told me they have about 30% life left. Ive never touched them..

 

If drum/shoe style brakes last so long, why are there disc/pad style brakes that need new pads every 50k?

 

slam on the brakes with the seat belt off to see why

Discs and pads are better

 

Does that basically mean that drums last longer because they don’t work and/or are rarely adjusted properly?

 

Front brakes get a lot more work in stopping the vehicle versus rear brakes, my friend.

I had a car that was running off little if any rear brake and it showed. My sister freaked when I was driving with her in the car as she saw the pedal go almost to the floor (which I'd gotten used to).

 

apparently this is a possibility in certain cold climates?

https://youtu.be/4JuVrd5pUbA?si=zjNgui6-Wom9EXbO