89 f350 brake shoe question

hi i was looking at my brake shoes and i noticed that the wire that comes down from the top and holds the hook that keeps the gear holding the two shoes apart from spinning backward was ripped on one side and the other side it wasnt really tight enough to hold the gear

is this bad?

i need some opinions

if some1 has a picture on how this wire is supposed to be strung down to hold this gear i would appreciate it because mine just is not tight and i dont see the proper way to string it

there should be an adjustment cable guide in the middle of the shoe. yes the cable should be tight, if the guide is missing then the cable will have a lot of slop.

the cable guides are missing

is this an item i can purchase at autozone or pepboys or napa?

I am not a fan of any of the above parts stores, but you should be able to, some will sale it by it self, but you may need to buy the complete adjuster kit for each side, the adjuster kit comes with the adj. screw, arm, cable, spring(s) and guide.