Brake Shoe Min. Spec?

[john_pifer]

How thin do y'all let your brake shoes get?

Pulled one of my rear wheels and drums just to check, and the thinnest part of the pad is ~ 3mm. Called Toyota and they said the spec in the service manual is 0-1mm.

Not sure how thick they are, new, but if I knew that, I might could extrapolate how many miles I've got left on them.

180K on truck, and original shoes & drums.

 

[Rolla07]

Im on original shoes at 130k miles on car in sig...will be checking mine during tire changeover. Surprised spec goes that low..from what i read its 0.3 to change but i guess Toyota might have their own standards...

 

[john_pifer]

I'd heard 3mm too.

 

[eljefino]

2/32 is, I understand, the legal min, same as a tire. If riveted, that's the distance to the rivet head.

In actuality I change them before they're gone because they've glazed over with age or b/c a cylinder puked on 'em.

 

[rustypigeon]

The min thickness specified in my '94 Toyota Truck manual is 1mm.

Pa state inspection requires a minimum of 2/32" on bonded shoes or 1/32" above the rivet on riveted shoes. 2/32" = 1.6mm

I change mine a bit before they get that low. I don't really measure them I just eyeball it and decide if they need replacing.

 

[john_pifer]

Thanks for the input, guys. Guess I need to decide whether to get these drums turned, or buy new ones, and whether to replace the wheel cylinders. Probably a good time to go ahead and do a drain and replacement of all the brake fluid, too, since it's been a few years since I did that.