Charles Kline wrote:Step one is going out to your rig and looking at what you actually have. No book is going to tell you for sure.
Absolutely right. If you have another car then you can pull the rear brakes on the chero apart and take a drum, and a shoe with you to a parts store for exact replacement parts, or use rockauto and hope they get it right.
A full brake repair kit is a good idea and isn't expensive, it should include new springs, nails and keepers, one set for each wheel.
Also I'd get new reverse adjuster cables, pay close attention to how these are installed, make sure you get the new ones installed correctly. Inspect the star-wheel adjusters, if the little star teeth are worn, it'd be good to replace them too, otherwise the reverse adjuster cables won't be able to keep the rear brakes adjusted properly.
New drums and shoes, and you'll need a couple of cans (at least) of Brake-Kleen, and a bunch of rags to clean up the mess.
And if you don't have the proper brake tools now would be a good time to get them, they're cheap and make life SO much easier when installing the return springs.
Inspect the wheel cylinders for any sign of leaking, hopefully they'll be good, or you'll be buying new ones and bleeding the brakes, may as well buy brake fluid too.
Finally, if the backing plates don't have the brake adjusting slots plugged, buy new plugs, they keep the brakes from being swamped when driving in water, and will keep the brakes from rusting out.