Well, someone here told me this before...and it's true. Once those shoes get soaked in gear old, they'll never be the same. At 300,000 miles, there's still plenty of life left in my shoes, but they keep swelling and I can feel them grabbing. Mechanic sanded them down for me a few months back but they're grabbing again.

I've taken a hit financially with all this inflation, and I'm finding there's not much left over after meeting basic needs. And I just ordered a new alternator and TPS (just started throwing check engine light). So though I'd normally go OEM without second thought...I'm having second thoughts. I can get discounted OEM for $80, or go NAPA Ultra Premium for $36.

Anyone have good or bad experience with NAPA shoes?

 

Napas fine.. theyre all pretty fine at this point.

Get one with a life time warranty (autozone, orilleys) , then just change em out when they wear.

 

Thanks.

I just happened to notice something on another forum about noise & rubbing and ill-fitting with most aftermarket shoes. I'm good with faster wear (don't need them to last another 300,000 miles), but not with actual problems right away.

 

Can you check to make sure your drum isn’t out of round? If money is really tight, can you just sand down the shoes another mm?

 

IIRC, 24 years ago or so, I put Napa shoes on my 87 4Runner when I replaced the shoes. Didn't have any trouble with them.

Yes, oil on the shoes ruins them. The axle seals will leak if you don't keep the breather clear. Or if the seals get old and stiff, or if blah blah blah. If the oil gets on the shoes, you no longer have rear brakes to speak of. I'm normally an OEM kind of guy, but on the rear brake shoes, and front pads, I make an exception. Heck, I even went Rock Auto the last time I replaced the pads on my 87 Hilux, and they work great, especially once I scared my wife by slamming them on at highway speeds. I told her I had to bed the new pads...

We replaced the shoes on my 99 4R last summer. We noticed the axle seals were leaking. Turned out the rear diff breather was clogged up, causing the leak. My mech cleared the breather out, replaced the axle seals and the shoes. This time I went OEM all the way around. I couldn't believe the difference in the brakes. Before, I had to push a fair way down to get some decent braking. I am sure I was only on the front pads. Once the rear shoes, and yes, the front pads, were replaced the difference was quite surprizing. Now, I just touch the pedal, it seems, and those rear shoes go to work right away! No, they aren't mis-adjusted, either. There's no rub or grab of the rear brakes. I had them let me check before they dropped it off the lift, and the rear wheels spun freely, but again, just a light touch on the pedal, and they STOP!

Make sure you check the axle seals fairly often, along with the diff breathers. Especially if you do any mudding or the like. Clogged diff breathers are super easy to fix. They just unscrew easily, and you can blow some low-medium pressure air through them. If they're really bad, a small, stiff, wire will do the trick.
Best is to get a kit to relocate the breathers. Cheap, and available everywhere. That way, they don't get clogged up in the first place.

Good luck to ya!
Pat☺

 

Thanks. Well, money isn't that tight. I'm willing to spend money to get new shoes, just questioning how important OEM is in this situation. I don't remember exactly when my mechanic last sanded them down, but I'm sick of the recurring problem. He didn't mention anything about the drums, and he's a bit OCD, so I'm guessing they're fine.

My rear breather is good, luckily. I went through the whole axle seal ordeal over the last couple years. A wheel bearing went out, so I had a local mechanic replace both rear bearings and seals, and right away they were leaking again. So I took it to my preferred mechanic, and he did a bunch of work back there. No leaks since. Later when I complained about brake grabbing, he sanded down the shoes. There's still so much pad left he felt bad replacing them, so held off. I know I shouldn't assume, but he's good at his job and I think if the drums were warped he would have caught it.

I'm good spending $40 on new shoes, and hopefully that's all that's needed.