[65sweetness]

What exactly causes cracked brake shoes? I started hearing grinding from the front ( i have 4 wheel drums), and when i checked the shoes they were cracked up pretty bad. so im going to changed them of course, but the thing is they are only about 4-5 months old, they still have plenty of meat on them they just look like they're gunna fall apart. I thought i read sumwhere that it could just be cheap shoes.... any ideas?

[BULLITT_2008]

heat can crack the its a main cause or if you get any kind of oils on them it will break down the pads

[dne']

HI! years ago, brake linings were held in place by rivets instead of a bonding agent. The problem was as the brake asbestos wore down, the steel rivets would grind into the drum/s! Made it difficult to get the drum off and ruin the drum. I think somewhere along the line brass rivets were used and didn't grind into the drum(or rotor). Now I never see riveting being done, only bonded/glue. Much of the time as the brake padding wore thin, it would crack, come separated from the metal and actually lock up a wheel! As for the cracking~ possibly not having the drums machined to seat properly. A glazed drum on new shoes would probably generate a lot of heat., and also cheap shoes could be a culprit, but where does one buy really good shoes for an old car?
dne'