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I have an extra rear axle for my '31 AA and pulled the brake drums off to see of they were better than the ones on the rear axle I'm restoring. They were not as good as my "restoring" drums, so I'm returning these drums back to the original axle.

My challenge is getting the service brake shoes on one side to collapse enough to get the drum back on. I did not remove the original shoes, ,so I'm surprised to have trouble getting the drum back on. I have turned the adjuster in each direction and the shoes remain in the same position.

How do I get the brake shoes to collapse? It is not necessary to have the assembly road ready. I only want to keep all the parts together, and I prefer to have everything assembled for storage.

Back out the brake adjusting wedge and then try tapping the top of the shoe in,
the brake shoe link may be stuck with old dried grease.

Thanks for the reply, Bob. How do I back out the adjusting wedge? I turn it either way, and when it clicks, I see the brake shoes expand and then snap back with the spring tension to the original place. What am I missing?

Just keep unscrewing the adjusting wedge. The shoe will come out a little as the brake shoe link gets to a high spot
on the wedge and then go in as it gets to a low spot.

Bob,

I appreciate the help. To be really anal about this, is the adjusting wedge threaded with right hand threads on both sides? I'm assuming the wedge will eventually back all the way out(?)

Here is a picture of one backed all the way out.

That looks like it is back as far as it will go. Brake shoe links are probably stuck in housing. If the drum is off, take a block of wood and hammer and tap shoes in at top. If you screw the adjuster all the way the other direction after shoes are removed it will push dust cover off and removes from shoe side of backing plate.