Brake Shoes for Honda Civic MA

Brake shoes are the friction parts of a drum brake. Each is a curved metal shoe carrying a lining, which a wheel cylinder pushes outwards against the inside of the turning drum. The sets here are sold per axle, one set of shoes for two drums, and most are for rear brakes.

The shoes rest on an anchor at one end and are pushed apart at the other. In the common leading-and-trailing layout, the turning drum drags the leading shoe harder into contact, a self-servo effect that adds force without extra pedal effort. The trailing shoe gets no such help, so the two linings work and wear differently.

Heat is the drum’s weak point. As the drum gets hot it expands away from the shoes, so pedal and handbrake travel grow, and a hot lining also grips less. That is why drums now sit mostly on the rear axle, where braking loads are lower. On many cars the rear drum also houses the parking brake, with a lever and strut that spread the shoes when the cable is pulled.

Three things decide the choice:

• Axle: each set is listed for the front or the rear axle, as the two usually differ in size.
• Reference: the code at the start of each title is the shoe’s part number. Cross-check it against the car’s own parts listing or the shoes you remove. Cars with rear discs and a drum-type parking brake inside the disc hat use different, smaller shoes.
• Contents: a set holds the shoes for both drums of one axle, so both sides get the same lining and brake evenly. Springs, adjusters and hold-down pins are not listed as included, so plan for them if yours are tired.

Before fitting, check the drums. The maximum diameter is usually cast into the drum; one worn past it, scored or out of round should be replaced in pairs. Peel back the wheel cylinder boots and look for fluid, because a weeping cylinder ruins new linings.

Work on one side at a time, keeping the other as a reference for where each spring sits. Clean with brake cleaner, not compressed air, which puts the dust into the air you breathe. A trace of high-temperature grease belongs on the raised pads where the shoe edges rest, never on the linings.

Set the shoes so the drum turns with light drag, and adjust the handbrake cable last. New linings then need a series of moderate stops to bed into the drum before hard use.