anybody seen dislocated brake shoes before

[ehall]

I am chasing a problem with inconsistent brakes on my old Cadillac, thought for sure it was sticky calipers so I pulled them and greased the pins and slides. Still some hit or miss, so I started bleeding the rears and found this

The forward shoe (on the left) was dislocated at the top, and was pinched against the backing plate at the crease. I don't think it was installed like this (2 years ago was last time they were serviced?) maybe it was dunno but I doubt it. I think it probably dislocated. Anybody else ever seen something like this? The shoes have lots of meat and the adjuster is tight (the setup is nearly identical to the XJ junk) so there shouldn't be a problem with play.

 

[bwildered]

I am no brake expert, and could be completly wrong, but is that spring broken (or a post missing)?
I thought there was something that pulled the shoes in place. Sorry I changed my drums to discs, so just going off vague memories.

 

[ehall]

I pressed down on the top of the show with a screwdriver handle and it BANG dropped into place so the spring seems fine. Everything seems fine which is what's so weird about it.

 

[old_man]

You didn't show enought to tell, but there is what is called a leading and a trailing brake shoe. I have seen all too many times where they get installed wrong by mixing shoes from different sides, etc. Double check. On a given side, the shoes should be of different size. The shoe to the front is called the leading or primary shoe and should normally be smaller than the trailing shoe.

 

[RCP Phx]

It can also happen if the drums have been turned to far.

 

[Shorty]

did anyone replace the drums when they were serviced? I can't see how the shoe would've fit there if the drum was the correct size-- that's where it's friction surface resides normally. Could someone have in stalled HD brake drums in place of LD drums?

 

[ehall]

I replaced calipers and drums with premium NAPA brake parts about three years ago (totally rebuilt the brakes). I've got 15k miles on them, give or take. A couple of years ago one of the wheel cylinders developed a leak and I had another shop replace them both. That is the last time they were touched. All parts are good, no rust, the adjusters and springs are good, there is natural drag on the drums, etc. Actually what caught me was that this wheel had a lot of natural drag, and I figured the adjuster was out of whack and then saw the dislocated shoe

 

[joe_peters]

Might need to replace the springs.

 

[crystalcleanteam]

Did you figure out what was wrong? I Am having the same problem....

 

[ehall]

My best guess is that the wrench monkey didn't seat them properly when he replaced the wheel cylinders