crappy brake shoes

Again, I'm speaking in generalities, I'm not specifically addressing your picture. The point I'm trying to make is that not being able to back off the shoe adjustment without removing the drum is a poor design, period, due to the likelihood that on a rust belt car the "rust ridge" will mean that drum removal - even for inspection - is likely to result in destroying the drum, shoes, or both.

It doesn't work that way in practice. A well developed "rust ridge" does not simply flake off when you try to drag it over the shoes. You

nate

no you're not, you're talking in misinformed presumptions. brake drums/disks don't "rust ridge" for the reasons stated.

we don't entirely disagree on that, however, there are limits to how much allowance a manufacturer has to make for idiots that don't bother to inspect their brake drums every 30k miles, and unscrupulous aftermarket manufacturers who make crap. i /don't/ think the manufacturer can be entirely at fault in either situation, although it would help if they were more "realistic" in the way they allow for both in this case.

???

that's because it's not a ridge of rust, it's a ridge of metal. how many more times do i need to spell that out before it penetrates?

From: Nate Nagel Newsgroups: rec.autos.tech,alt.trucks.ford Subject: noise/vibration in front end of '93 Ford F-150 please help! Date: Sat, 01 Oct 2011 09:09:30 -0400

"...had a full brake job done on the truck (a note from my last safety inspection said that the rear shoes were almost at the wear limit, so I replaced everything, because it pulled a little and the front rotors were warped) including all hardware and hoses, and had the front wheel bearings replaced (that needed to be done at purchase as well.)"

- gpsman

You guys a talking around each other. The picture you're talking about - the guy calls it a ridge of rusted metal. Not a "rust ridge." It's all semantics. I'll go with JB here. It's a rusty metal ridge. Remove the rust, and you still have a metal ridge. But you can call it a "rust ridge" if you want to.