Brakes: Leading shoe vs. Trailing shoe

[mjeansonne]

Putting new brakes on the Champ. Took a few weeks to get the new relined shoes from S.I. after I sent them the old shoes. Unfortunately, since I don't redo brake shoes often, I have forgotten which is the leading shoe and which is the trailing shoe!!

If memory serves me correct, the leading shoe is the one with the shorter brake pad and it goes to the forward end of the vehicle. The trailing shoe is the one with the longer brake pad and goes to the rear of the vehicle.

Am I correct or wrong?

[BobPalma]

That is correct. The rear show is longer because it must transfer the stopping force from the front shoe, through the adjuster, to the anchor pin. BP

[RadioRoy]

Do you mean a Champion car, or a Champ truck?

Beware! Some Champ trucks do not have self energizing brakes.

On NON self-energizing brakes, the long shoe goes to the front.

On self energizing brakes, the long shoe goes to the rear.

To clarify: NON self energizing has a fixed shoe anchor at the bottom and each shoe has its own adjuster = long shoe to front.

Self energizing has a star wheel adjuster and the shoes float around that adjuster = long shoe to the rear.

Just read Commander Eddies trials and tribulations with his brake mechanic and the subsequent trip he took with bad brakes.

[Commander Eddie]

Yes indeed. I have a '61 1/2 ton Champ truck with the non-self energizing brakes and the cam adjusters. Someone put the shoes on it with the short lining in front and I could barely stop. I posted a thread on here about this very subject. I could not get a local mechanic, who came highly recommended, to switch them back for me. He was sure I was wrong. I just came back from visiting my brother in California who put the shoes back on correctly (long lining in front) and it made a world of difference. Be very careful which way this is done or you may find you have very poor brakes, even with new shoes.