99 taurus drum brake problem....

So my dad has a 99 taurus 3.0 se. It has front disc, rear drum brakes. He has done drums before, but wanted me to help him with the discs, so i did the front for him. The front went good, replaced the rotors and the pads without any problems. We go to the back, i looked at how it all went together, and started taking it apart. While taking it apart we laid it all out how it went back together. We put on the new shoes, and its all back together the right was as far as i know. We jiggle the new drum over the shoes, try to spin it, and make sure the shoes are set to drag just a little bit, which they do. Were done, so we though. We put the wheel on, tighten down the lug's and now the tire wont spin at all. Even using a tire wrench on it, it just wont turn. SO we pulled it apart and tried the old drum, and it does the same thing. I really dont think it is the drum binding up, because the old drum didn't do this before, and both of the drums are doing it now. Could the new shoes be binding on something when the tire is torqued down, and stoping it from spinning? the shoes look the same exact size as the old ones. This moring i might try to put the old shoes back on, with the new drum and see where that gets us.


Ebrake is off.
Anyone have any ideas? like i said, i have probably done 50+ sets of brakes with disc, but every car i have ever owned or worked on has been 4 wheel disc, so i dont know enough about these to know whats going on hear.

Thanks guys, Chris

I've had drums lock up like that on me but only because they got a little sideways during the installation. The only thing left for you to do that I know of is to make careful
measurments between the old and new drums. If the new ones are too deep they will lock on the backing plates. Look carefully on the drums and brake components for visible marks indicating interference. If you see this it will point you to the problem.
If you never did drum brakes before are you sure that you did them correctly?
Let us know if you find out, good luck...........

All my cars now have 4 wheel disc, I looked in my manual, nothing looked unusual in the pictures or instructions, you didn't forget any spacers or such, if needed, on the hub???

When you compared the size of the new shoes to the old, are you referring to length/radius, or did you also check depth? Maybe the new shoes are deeper than the old, so when you tighted the wheels, the shoes bottom out between the drum and the backing plate. Or, maybe the friction material is not centered on the metal shoe and overhangs one edge.

The backing plate will have wear points that should line up with tabs on the edges of the shoes. Make sure they are aligning properly.

What happens if you back the self adjuster off all the way and put the drums and wheels back on. Do they still get tight? I'd suggest you try this. If the wheels will spin this way, adjust up the tension using the access hole with the wheel still installed. When they start to have resistance, then pull the wheel and drum and inspect everything for evidence of where they are wearing.

-Rod

I've had drums lock up like that on me but only because they got a little sideways during the installation. The only thing left for you to do that I know of is to make careful
measurments between the old and new drums. If the new ones are too deep they will lock on the backing plates. Look carefully on the drums and brake components for visible marks indicating interference. If you see this it will point you to the problem.
If you never did drum brakes before are you sure that you did them correctly?
Let us know if you find out, good luck...........

Am i sure i did them correctly. No, but im confident that i did. They went back on the same way as they came off. and we still have the other side to look at to make sure it is together the same way. We measured the drum. and it is identical of the old one. We also have tried using the old drum over the new pads, and we get the same end result, so thats why i think its something to do with the shoes, but im unsure. According to autozone, they are the right parts.

Did you replace all the hardware (springs, clips, adjusters etc) with new parts? Both on my Taurus and Windstar when I did the rear drums I had to rotate the star wheel all the way in so the shoes would clear the drums. I had to make a few minor adjustments so the shoes would have a slight drag. BTW- the wheel cylinders were shot @ 70K on my car, so I would suggest replacing thoses if they're seized or leaking even a small amount of fluid.

Make sure on the install again. I've done drums before and I found out that it's a fairly commom mistake to put the springs on backwards. I've done that one myself.