I have seen a couple threads on this, but I think some of them are wrong. On a 97 f-150 with rear drums, does the shoe with the thicker material go towards the front of the truck or the rear of the truck? I would really like to get to the bottom of this. Thanks for your help.

 

I'm pretty sure the bigger shoe should face the rear of the truck.

 

The old rule of thumb was always big shoe to the back. That was the shoe with the larger brake material surface. I never had shoes where 1 was thicker than the other. I have noticed that some shoes on other newer vehicles are exactly the same. No difference front or back. I would imagine this is due to cheaper production costs.

MY 2 cent.

 

I have the shoes with the thicker material towards the back and when I brake hard, the rear wheels lock up and sometimes make a howling noise. do you think it could be bad shoes? I had the drums turned when I did the job, so I know that isn't it. All I know is it is driving me nuts!!!!!!!!!

 

Pickups usually lock up the rear wheels first with an empty bed.
MY 98 came with abs on the rear only I assume to prevent that.

If the brakes don't drag or grab I wouldn't sweat it.
If they do drag check that the e-brake cables aren't sticking.
With both rears locking up I doubt it tho.

sounds like you got good brakes.

 

do you think that I have them over adjusted? They never did this with the old ones, even 30,000 miles before I changed them.

 

You can try to adjust the back a little. For your peace of mind pull the drums, make sure all is intact and nothing is leaking(axle seal or wheel cylinder), clean the shoes with brake kleen, and reassemble.

 

bigger one facing the rear....It also sound like they might be over adjusted, causing the pad to overheat and making the noise..It's happened to me before...it can also be the quality of the brake pad, cheapies tend to do that...and can also begin to crack after too much overheating.

Eric.

 

I don't think you could put them in wrong anyway...the rear one has that little pin sticking out of it near the bottom (assuming the 97 and 98 are the same).