I recently pulled the rear end & trailing arms removed the u bolts sand blasted every thing shot with epoxy primmer & a couple coats of paint pulled axles replaced 6 broken studs changed the pinion seal with a new crush washer pulled the chunk cleaned & inspected bearings races set back lash 2 new grease seals 2 new wheel cylinders 4 new shoes 2 new drums driver side went back together no problem passenger side however is the issue short shoe to the front e-brake spreader in fully adjuster ran up all the way no tension on e-brake cable the shoes are not completely against the stud at the top thus causing the the shoes to be off center which causes the drum to be off set with the axle I have swapped the shoes around swamped the wheel cylinders old drum new drum same issue I can fight the drum & make it go on but the wheel is locked up Been working on stuff 30+ years never seen this .
Wow that's a tough one. If you still have the old parts I would start comparing the old parts with the new ones. Maybe even put the old parts back on and see if that works. There has to be something different some where. Step back, take a break and take another look. you'll get it. I feel your pain.
Sounds like it has to be something simple, and as bigtim suggested maybe take a break and try again. I've seen where some of the e-brake spreaders have a large slot and a small slot, and if installed in reverse position the small slot can cause a problem. Then it's covering all the basics again - shoe return springs and adjusters are on in the right direction, the shoes aren't stuck against the backing plate, etc. Good luck. Nothing quite as miserable as a back breaking brake job that doesn't go right.
Sometimes things are as hard as we make them . The best place to hide something is under your nose . The lesson here is make sure there is free play in the e-brake cable when the shoes are off mine was seized!
