Which shoe on a Chevrolet S10 is the rear and which is the front?

I have a 1998 Chevrolet S10 rear wheel drive with drum brakes on the rear and disc in front. My truck recently failed inspection because I put the rear shoe in the front and the front shoe in the rear the mechanic said. I have taken off my shoes and I can't tell the difference. And I didn't take a picture before removing them. How can you tell which shoe belongs where since they will go on backwards (I assumed they would only go on one way)?|||I own a shop, and have a lot of experience with this issue. First thing to do is remove the shoes from both rear wheels. Compare all of them. The shoes will look the same, but the difference will be the pad (not the shoe) attached to the shoe. If you have a long pad, and a short pad, then put the short pad towards the front of the vehicle, and the long towards the rear of the vehicle. I would go to a parts store, and confirm I had the correct shoes for the vehicle by looking at another box, and this is after making sure they gave you the right numbered box. Some vehicles have the same shoes front, and back on the rear wheels. Once you have them installed, rotate the adjuster with a screwdriver to make sure you hear them click. If not, then something isn't right. Look for the spring on the adjuster being on wrong, and causing the adjuster to sit too far out. Another thing is the tab that works the adjuster wheel sometimes will get worn to the point of not turning the adjuster wheel, and just slips right over it without turning it. Adjust the brakes to where you can get the drums on both wheels, and go work the emergency brake to center them up. Remove the drums one at a time, and adjust them until you have a small drag on the drums, and this is where you want to have them. If in doubt, go to the library, and pull a Chilton's Repair Manual, and you will see how it all goes. Also; It may be a good idea to bleed the brakes.


One very common mistake is; Looking at the adjuster, you will see where the shoe fits into a slot in the end of it. Notice there is an angle (the shoe rides on) down inside the groove, and it can go either way. Once the shoes are in positon, and the springs are attached, these angles should now be in line with the angle on the shoe. If one end is one way, and the other end is the other way, then the shoes are not balanced, and the adjuster isn't against each shoe the same. This angle is there for a reason, and it's important the angle is turned the proper way. If it's not; then it needs to be turned so the shoe matches with the adjuster and it doesn't have more push on one shoe, than it does the other. Installing the adjusters, and springs are critical to the brakes working equal.


Glad to help out, Good luck!!!|||Self energizing brakes means they wind around and make there own force to help you slow down leading shoe firction surface is smaller and the trailing shoe has a different materal and more of it. Most the time you cannot even tell if the shoes are backward. IN TEXAS we do not remove the brake drums but test for straight stopping at 20 miles an hour.|||On most GM vehicles the rear drum brake shoes are the same shape and size for the metal or backing of the shoe. What is different is the length of the friction or wearing surface that is rivoted onto the metal. The physically longer friction surfaced shoe is the secondary shoe and it is placed at the rear of the backing plate on both sides. Hence the reason that they are interchangeable as left and right both have to have the longer shoes mounted towards the rear of the vehicle. If you take the shoes off of one side and they look the same, make sure you didn't install both secondary shoes on one side which would have both of the primary shoes on the other. As you said, they will all fit on the same way. Make sense?|||Wow, you're lucky with all the expert advice, while some of these women here have none...why?|||the longer of the shoes go to the rear|||Look the friction part of the shoes,where it makes contact to the drum,the longer one is toward the back.|||They should be 2 slightly different sizes. I do believe the larger one goes on the front and the smaller on the back.|||Compare the 2 brake shoes, 1 will have more lining than the other, that 1 is the rear brake shoe and the 1 with less lining is the front,|||look at friction pad that is part that does stopping one should be longer than other one. longer one is to the back|||On a duel servo design (wheel cylinder on top and adjuster on


bottom and no solid anchor on bottom), the shoe with longer friction material goes to the back side (tailgate) and the shoes with shorter friction material goes on front side (engine).