2001 3.8 133,000 km - I took the passenger rear brake drum off today and can see that I only have about 1/8" pad left in one spot which is below the minimum 0.154" spec by Ford. I did not have calipers to check the drum, but roughly measuring it with a ruler I can see I am around 10.875", maybe a little less, but impossible to tell with a ruler and spec is 10.90", so I am getting very close. I suspect I SHOULD buy new drums, springs & pads and replace everything on both sides. I have never done this before, but I have the Ford manual. It looks fairly straight forward, but was looking for any advice as the manual really doesn't tell you how to do anything, just the sequence. By the way, the cylinder looks dry so I think it is OK.
I guess I should clean everything with brake cleaner, grease all the new metal to metal joints with never seize. Anything else? Any other parts I should change out? Will get everything I need in a brake kit or do I need to look for each part individually? What is the easiest way to get the springs off or do they come off easy any way? What about the removal of the shoe hold down spring? I couldn't see how it comes off?