uneven break shoe wear

[cadetchris]

i have a lovely set of wolseley 1500 front brakes on Primrose, however, the top break show on the drivers side has worn considerably more then the rest, so much so that i am down to the brass rivet on the front of the shoe and i still have 2-3mm above the rivet on the back.

what could be causing this very uneven wear? the shoes themselves are less than a year old and it really shouldnt be wearing out this quickly,

any ideas?

[mike.perry]

The shoe is probably rubbing, check that the pistons are retracting fully and the drum is turning freely after adjustment.

[bmcecosse]

Either that piston is sticking - or the other one is - and so this shoe is doing ALL the work. The nature of the assembly is that the shoe pivots on the rear of the other piston, and so the wear will be mostly on the leading edge of each shoe. It's not unknown to add a shim under the back edge of the shoe where it sits on the fixed end of the cylinder - to help to even out the wear. A shoe down to the rivets needs to be renewed asap.