DIY for a Drum Brake on a Chevy Van

The rear drum brakes on your Chevy van enclose the brake shoes, related mechanism and mounting hardware. Drum brakes adjust themselves and require little maintenance service. However, the brake lining--the friction material that rubs against the inside of the drum wall--eventually wears out, may become contaminated with oil or damaged and need to be replaced. Brake shoes are not as easy to replace as the pads on disc brakes but a set of special brake tools will make your job much easier.

Removing the Brake Drums

When installing new brake shoes on the rear wheel assemblies, remove both rear wheel/tire assemblies and drums. Then work on one brake assembly at a time and use the other assembly as a visual reference to make sure you install all the brake components in their correct place.

Before raising the rear of your Chevy van, insert a pin on the hole of the parking brake lever to disable the parking brake. Then, before removing the wheel/tire assembly, make match marks on the wheel and wheel hub so that you install them in the same position. Make matchmarks on the brake drum and hub.

On some Chevy vans, the drum can be remove by hand after removing the wheel/tire assembly, on other models, you will need to remove the drum retainers from the studs. If the drum seems stuck, tap lightly on the outer edge of the drum with a rubber mallet.

Removing the Brake Shoes

Start removing the retaining and hold-down springs from the brake assembly and keep all the brake mounting hardware in order so that you can reinstall them in their correct place. Once you have removed the brake shoes, spray the brake assembly backing plate with brake parts cleaner and wipe the brake dust from the assembly.

Before installing the new brake shoes, apply a thin coat of high temperature silicone brake lubricant to the backing plate where it contact the brake shoes. Also, lubricate the threads of the brake shoe adjuster screw with the same silicone. Use the other rear brake assembly as reference to install the new shoes, if necessary, so that you do not mix up the retaining springs.

After installing the brake drum and wheel/tire assembly, adjust the brake shoes through the adjusting hole in the back of the backing plat. Use a screwdriver to push the lever resting against the star wheel on the star wheel of the adjusting screw and rotate the star wheel using a brake adjusting tool. The brake shoes will be properly adjusted when they slightly drag against the drum as you rotate the wheel by hand.

After installing both brake shoe assemblies and lowering your van, depress the brake pedal gradually a couple of times, with the engine off, to allow the brake shoes to seat properly against the drum.