You got it now. That crooked wire thing is the "connecting link". The springs (I finally decided) must have been coming out of the parking brake lever/trailing brake shoe side. This last set of springs I replaced looked a little distorted. The hook coming off the winding should be at right angles to the winding. At least that's what the new ones looked like! The springs that popped out had the hooks stretched out to about a 30 degree angle away from the winding. I don't honestly know if I stretched them too far during installation, or if they were just weak in the hook area and the springs' constant pull just straightened the hooks out over time. Whatever - - I didn't take any chances this last time around though. I was careful not to over stretch the springs during installation - made sure the hook end was fully seated and crimped the connecting link hook almost completely shut. 167 miles later and counting. So far, so good. Thanks again for the interest and replies.
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