My wife 'limped' home w/a soft brake peddle.... Really, just on 'manual' brakes.... WoW.....


So I was able to check the under-side & traced the volumes of brake fluid to the driver side rear brake



...pull the wheel & then the drum cover....WoW...again....


I did find a broken lower spring, the mid-line spring holder/fastener that supports the brake shoes & the parts to the wheel cylinder....



Well the inspection & repair included a new wheel cylinder, new lower spring, other springs & clips, new brake shoes & a good cleaning. I also checked & replace some of the same parts on the passenger rear side...

The total job wasn't to difficult...I've done quite a bit of brake line & pads/shoes in the past so I had to just recall from the ole memory bank...

Hope this is helpful to all....

Wow, that could have been bad. Good thing she made it home safe.

Might as well go and replace both drums and get all new brakes and hardware for the rear. If one side broke, then it'* almost time for the other side to break.

Though the pads do look good and thick, now that they are soaked with brake fluid, they won't work well.

I did the shoes last fall....Your right on track....I did both side w/this repair w/new springs & hardware fasteners....the hardware & springs were not in stock @the time I needed to complete the job last fall.

I got the limited lifetime warranty on the shoes so as you mentioned Mike, these shoes had brake fluid all over the place....

I figured that the shoes wouldn't have the same friction 'grip' as new shoes........besides, I could get these replace for free....much safer approach...

Thanks for your thoughts & suggestions...greatly appreciated...

Wizzard,

Did you have to bleed the brakes at all wheels or just the drivers side? My passenger rear wheel cylinder on my 91 lasabre just blew, so i need to do it this weekend. I love to work on disc/ but hate the springs/cables of drum brakes.

If you have a digital camera take photos of the assembly before you take anything apart. I have done rear shoe brakes before but I find it is still a pain to remember how the things; springs and what not, go back. A photo really helps and you can bring it up on the computer and zoom in for close up details. It has save me some headaches in doing shoe brakes.

yes you will have to bleed them but there may not be much air as long as your not driving with a leaky cylinder but yes you're gonna have to bleed em and im going to go ahead and close this thread its about a year old now