I agree with Gil about total contact brakes. On my 3rd set of 62 brakes, I did everything "by the book" and they work as new. The Sport Conv. had little use for 30 years and the leaking DOT 3 fluid had done it's job of corroding nearly everything. I removed, cleaned, painted and or replaced everything including all cylinders,springs and backing plates. I replaced or turned all 4 drums and most importantly had the new shoes "arced" to fit each drum. I then purged the steel lines and am now using DOT 5 silicon fluid. By the book adjustment was easy and no pulling to either side has yet been experienced. Doug Warrener Fair Oaks,CA 300H, 62 Sport Conv. ----- Original Message ----- From: lettercars@xxxxxxx To: "henry schleimer" <henry.schleimer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, cv300g@xxxxxxxxx, Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, larry@xxxxxxxxxx Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 5:44:05 AM Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] 1958 300D Brake shoe lining Thank you, Henry. That is exactly the idea of the Chrysler Total Contact braking system introduced in the 1956 MY and continued thru 1962. I have heard all the complaints about them, but when set up properly, they work fine. (They are somewhat---some would say very---particular.) I remember, while at Chrysler, talking about that with an engineer who was in the brake lab at that time. He stressed the importance of everything being set up just right. Now, if only Chrysler had combined the two leading shoe idea with Buick's great finned aluminum drums..... 300ly, Gil Cunningham Tallahassee, FL on a really beautiful am! In a message dated 3/21/2012 6:06:22 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, henry.schleimer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes: Note that for the 57 models, the front brakes have two leading shoes. That is, both get pulled into the drum with the car going forward. It doesn’t matter that one is upside down. The rear has leading and trailing shoes. This gives more braking torque on the front than rear, as it is needed. Later cars with leading/trailing shoes on the front and rear generally used different sized wheel cylinders (or drums) to give the necessary brake bal ance. Also note the 57 Chrysler workshop manual clearly shoes all shoes front and rear have a full length lining. You could probably get away with a shorter lining on the rear of the rear brake but I wouldn’t do that on the front as they may get hot at different rates leading to earlier fade. Suggest you look up a 58 manual to check. Regards Henry From: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ] On Behalf Of Charlie V Sent: Wednesday, 21 March 2012 6:20 AM To: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ; Larry Jabin Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] 1958 300D Brake shoe lining Not sure if 1958 shoes are any different but whenever I purchased brakes shoes the set usually had two shoes with the lining on the Whole shoe and it also had two shoes with the lining ending an inch or so before each end of the shoe. The shoe with the shorter lining goes on the front half and the shoe that has Full lining goes on the rear half. I did an internet search to verify this and it's shown below. Where does the bigger size brake shoe go front or rear in drum? The smaller shoe should go on the front. The larger shoe should go to the rear, but not because of why you might think! When the brakes are applied the front shoe tries to jam itself into the brake drum. It is that front cohesive part that has the strongest braking force - pressing most-so upon the forward-facing shoe. However, even though the front shoe is where the majority of braking force is applied, it does not get the larger shoe! As noted, in a braking mode, the majority of the force that the decelerating vehicle applies to the brake shoes is applied against the forward shoe by the forward-most area of the inner brake drum, this makes the forward shoe the stronger, braking-wise. To help even things out, the rear secondary shoe is designed to be larger, to more equally match the braking power of the smaller, but more powerful front primary shoe. Ergo: The proper place for the larger shoe is to the rear. Lion Charlie Valentine 300G, 1962 300 Sport Convertible --- On Sun, 3/18/12, Larry Jabin < larry@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:larry%40pwbsfo.com> > wrote: From: Larry Jabin < larry@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:larry%40pwbsfo.com> > Subject: [Chrysler300] 1958 300D Brake shoe lining To: " Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:Chrysler300%40yahoogroups.com> " < Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:Chrysler300%40yahoogroups.com> > Date: Sunday, March 18, 2012, 12:37 PM Could someone tell me when relining the brake Shoes Should the lining cover the whole shoe? The reason I ask I,s I have purchased re-lined shoes from different suppliers >From one supplier the lining covers the shoes completely & the other there is almost an inch at each end with no lining Thanks Larry Jabin Larry@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:Larry%40pwbsfo.com> <mailto: Larry@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:Larry%40pwbsfo.com> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ To send a message to this group, send an email to: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx or go to http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Chrysler300/join and select the "Leave Group" button For list server instructions, go to http://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htm For archives go to http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/search.htm#querylangYahoo ! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ To send a message to this group, send an email to: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx or go to http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Chrysler300/join and select the "Leave Group" button For list server instructions, go to http://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htm For archives go to http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/search.htm#querylangYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chrysler300/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chrysler300/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: Chrysler300-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Chrysler300-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Chrysler300-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/