Brakes: brake rubbin' question

[studeluvr]

After she has sat all winter the spouse and I took ol' Betsy (64 Cruiser) out for a 20 mile stroll. She has a vibration that can be felt in your seat. I thought it was an egged rear brake drum or bent axle. Both check out fine. When I rotate the tire by hand, a rub is felt so I backed off the shoes all the way. It still rubs a little after it is backed off all the way. I noticed that on the front shoe at the top about 1/2 inch is rubbing but the rest of the shoe looks untouched, not much backing up I guess. The rear shoe does show a little wear but is pretty dusty for being used. I did a brake job about 4 yrs ago, all is fine on the other wheels but this one has me stumped. Can I file or grind off the rub area as a CASO fix and see what happens or how do I fix it right. AND does anyone sell the puller for the rear drum. My home made device threads are all galled up luckily the local service station loaned me his puller which was super sweet to use. Any advice would be very appreciated.

[RadioRoy]

What makes you think it's the brakes? If you feel a vibration in your seat (your butt) was it only when the brakes were being applied? If not... if the vibration occurs when you are driving without brakes, you might look for something going on with a wheel or tire.

Why did you let your spouse sit all winter, anyway?

[studeluvr]

The vibes only happen on the move but nothing unusal when the brakes are applied. Now I wonder if I might have the short shoe on the rear? I've just rotated the wheel by hand to check if the axle is bent. Do I need to have the axle turn faster to see if it is bent.
I let the spouse out only in good weather otherwise she gets mean. With only 3 hours sleep some things seem to make sense but really come up short.

[RadioRoy]

If nothing unusual happens when applying the brakes, I would look elsewhere for the vibration. Check the tires and wheels. A ply could have broken in a tire, or something could be stuck in one of the wheels. You could jack up the front end and rotate the wheel by hand, looking at the tread from the side to see if there is a bump on the tire. It's tougher to do that on the rear because the rear wheels do not rotate as easily by hand as the fronts.

[studeluvr]

Butt vibes fixed. I sanded off the leading edge of the brake shoes and that took care of the butt vibes and the rubbing felt in the seat. But as was suggested the next vibration problem could well be in the wheels. It is felt in the steering wheel and has a rythum. Ol' Betsy (not the wife) sat many years in the back of an old equipment shop. After about 3 years of chasing gremlins I think we are about to the end of the mystery problems.