There should be a long shoe and a shorter one. The long shoe goes to the back and the short one to the front. Also make sure there is no oil/grease what so ever on the shoes and or drums.

 

Thanks HalfOunce; I'll check that tomorrow.

 

did it fix it?

 

You can also check for a collasped brake inner brake line... i know... sounds retarded but trust me... Ive been there.... If you push on the pedal and the caliper stays engaged, loosen up the bleeder a tick... if the caliper then frees itself back up, it is very likely a collapsed inner brake line. And no... you really cant inspect the outside of the line to make this determination

Tony...

 

The car is at my son's house. (It's a father and son project) so I haven't been there yet today to check it out. Hopefully, by the end of the day we, or he will have looked at the brake shoes and if they are correct we'll check for the caollapsed inner brake line. Thanks to all for the help. I hope we can have this thing ready for inspection soon.

 

Our 54 Chevy (drum brakes) front driver side locks up when the brakes are applied. With the car on jacks both wheels seem to be adjusted correctly (same amount of drag). We had the brake shoes off to replace brake cylinders. Are the forward and aft shoe on each wheel a different size and, if so, might I have them reversed on one wheel? Or could it be an entirely different problem. Any help would be appreciated.

If the cylinders were leaking and the shoes got soaked this can cause locking of the wheel. You may be able to wash the shoes enough with brake clean to get them to not grab. Most likely they will need to be replaced.

 

The brake shoes are on correctly. They didn't get wet so that shouldn't be the problem (although we will soon replace them and the drums). I guess we may look into the possibility of a collapsed brake line next.