Rear Brake Shoe Order

[Murph]

Hi All,
My name is Andrew and I'm new here. I have a question about which side of the hub each brake shoe goes on. I have 2 different shoes for each drum (one of them has longer and thicker material on it). I have read about this on other threads before but I need it to be described really simply. (for example: on the driver side hub, the long one goes toward the engine) I tend to over-analyize things. Here is the info on the car....
1995 Grand Am, V6 3100 SE with ABS
The Hayne's manual has 2 versions of drum brakes in it, mine is the older one called 93 and earlier (Weird huh?). The manual has pictures of the assemblies but I don't know if they are of the driver side or passenger side. Also, I can't tell the long shoe from the short shoe in the pictures.
Thank you all for your time and help

-Andrew

[sunrunner_pei]

Please don't tell me you have both sides disassembled. :(

Your 1995 has the same suspension as the 1996-1998 models, and I believe that includes brakes. It is very possible that the Hayne's manual is wrong. They don't tend to be very good references for this sort of thing. The best thing to do is to do one side at a time, using the opposite side as a reference. And of course, taking a photo of each side before disassembly can help you piece it all back together.

I've only ever done drums a few times, I can't remember which shoe goes where. I'd take a guess, but that's all it'd be: a guess. I'll let someone with more drum experience chime in instead.

Good luck! :)

[Murph]

Only one side is disassembled but I don't think the shoes were installed in the right order from whoever did it last time...

[gt00]

In most cases the primary shoe lining is shorter than the secondary shoe . The longer shoe (secondary) always goes towards the rear of the car and the shorter shoe (primary) towards the front ..... ;)

[rixGAphx]

In most cases the primary shoe lining is longer than the secondary shoe.
The longer shoe (primary) always goes towards the rear of the car and the short shoe (secondary) towards the front ..... ;)Semi-correct.

Yes, the longer one goes toward the rear; always.
But it is called the 'secondary'.

The 'primary' goes toward the front, and it is nearly always shorter.
If they're both the same length, it obviously doesn't matter.

[gt00]

Semi-correct.

Yes, the longer one goes toward the rear; always.
But it is called the 'secondary'.

The 'primary' goes toward the front, and it is nearly always shorter.
If they're both the same length, it obviously doesn't matter.Opps goofed that up . You are indeed correct on that ... :D