Had two rear leaky axle seals, so I ended up replacing them as well as the brake shoes.

Brake shoes went on fine, made sure that the mechanism from the parking brake turned the adjustment screws...

After I got everything back on, I pulled the e-brake a bunch to tighten the shoes.

Now it seems like the drums are awfully hot after driving around. They aren't smoking or anything, and I can touch them for a split second w/o burning myself but I feel theres maybe too much connection.

They are self adjusting right.. i mean, everytime you pull the parking brake it will adjust the brakes anyways, so theres no use in trying to loosen them right?

 

I'd jack up the rear and spin the wheels. If the brakes are dragging, you need to go in and see where the problem is because it's not adjusting correctly. Check that the bellcranks pivot freely. They may not be releasing and are keeping the e-brake applied. (This is very common in salt-belt.)

 

The Durk is right, put the rear up on jack stands, put it in Neutral, and spin each tire with yout hand. If the shoes are adjusted correctly, you should be able to hear ever so slighty the shoes dragging on the drum.

Did you use some quality brake grease (3M for me) on the adjuster plus the tabs on the back and bottom of the shoes? Does the parking brake adjuster move freely so that you can hear and see the adjuster moving the shoes witht the drum off? This visual inspection should be the key to knowing whether you shoes are working correctly or not.

OEM or aftermarket shoes? Once my shoes got 1000 miles on them, the drum heat subsided to some degree.

 

Funny, This is the same scenario for me too. I did jack up the rear and there is just a little drag.