Brake drums too small or shoes too big?

[jsinton]

Hi all,

I just replaced the shoes on my 91 Galant. The old shoes were smoked and cracked and made a horrible grinding sound even thought there was still pad (I just bought the car so I don't know the history.)

I installed the new shoes, being careful to screw the adjustor all the way in to allow max space. But no matter how I try, there is just not really enough room to get the drum back on. I finally beat them on with a hammer. They are tight and I don't know if they will wear in ok before they too are smoked and cracked. In other words, I think this happened the last time they were changed.

Is this normal? I don't do drums too often, so I don't know.

[jsinton]

Problem solved! I banged the drums apart once more, took off the simple shoe to disconnect, ground it down on the concrete, popped it back in, and it works fine. Lesson... don't put drums back on if they don't slide on easily.