Rear drum brake

hello guys,
How do I know when to service the rear drum brakes?
Do I go by miles driven?
Thanks.

 

That's a good start.

There is a shoe thickness spec that you can measure if you wish, as well as examining wear in the drum itself. But the service life can be maximized and many problems avoided just with periodic basics.

Clean out the dirt/dust and wash down the backing plate/components.

Lube friction points that specify lube.

Make sure no springs are broken

Make sure the wheel cylinder is dry, not leaking brake fluid

Make sure the adjuster turns freely

Lubricate ebrake components

Reinstall the drum and manually adjust the shoes per spec

Assuming a street driven truck, every 10k/second tire rotation should be adequate for this attention. Of course do it when you do your two year brake fluid flush and fill.

If the truck is heavily off roaded, particularly in wet/mud, more frequent inspections would be reasonable.

Generally the rear shoes should last about 2x the front pads.

 

What he said. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Generally, you go by material left on the pads/shoes. As a general figure for all brake systems, minimum material is 1/16th or 1.5mm on pads and shoes from nearest metal point or rivet. However, 2mm is a better figure to avoid going metal to metal. In addition to above, shoe/pad wear should be even.
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-check-drum-brakes.html