Should Both Brake pads move

[ndistasi]

im working on the brakes on my 1985 club car DS. i have a slight wobble as the cart stops and you can feel it more if you stop real slow. don't feel it while driving . l have one brake pad on the the passenger side that's worn down almost all the way on the bottom of the shoe but has more pad on the top. the drum is worn a little in one spot about 4 inches long but not that bad. the drivers side looks good as far as pad goes. im thinking that one shoe being really worn on the bottom is maybe causing that wobble. i took the drums off and checked the break movement but only see the back brake move on both wheels. is this normal, i was expecting to see both shoes move when i checked so now im thinking i may have another issue.

thanks
nick

[theboss20]

The front brake shoe (towards the front of the cart) is the primary shoe that contacts the brake drum first and then the forward motion of the cart as the primary shoe achieves friction with the drum moves the rear shoe or secondary shoe into contact with the drum and that causes a wedging effect and the brakes stop the cart. Some things that are important: the primary shoe has a shorter piece of friction material than the secondary. The brake shoe assembly must be able to slide on the backing plate in order to work properly and many times this lack of movement is causing just the primary shoe to do all the work and causes the primary shoe to wear. Solutions: remove the brake shoes (pay attention to how they go together...take some pictures) clean and lube the contact points on the backing plate so the assembly can move easily. Might be a good time to replace the brake shoes..they are not that expensive and taking them apart is a pain. I use a silicone based grease...it does not take much. If the backing plate pads are worn you may have to dress them with a file. It may also be a time to think about up-grading to disc brakes. Hope this helps.

[ndistasi]

sounds great -- thanks