have a 98 civic and i changed out the front brake pads so i inspected the rear shoes. I have about 1/8 on an inch left until i hit metal. How much comes on a new pair of brake shoes? Also generally does the brake shoes last twice as long as the brake pads under normal circumstances? Also should you inspect bearings? Please post opinions. thanks

 

They last a long time because most people forget to adjust their rear brake shoes. This is done by bringing up the e-brake one click and backing up and hitting the brakes somewhat hard several times while moving. Do this about every 6months or so depending on how often you brake. The rears should engage before the fronts putting less wear/tear on the fronts and you won't get that nose dive everytime you brake.

I've seen new brake shoes with only a couple mils of pad on them. They usually don't wear evenly either. The more often you adjust them, the more evenly they'll wear.

 

the rear brakes are on a proportionong valve depending on the car the front will use 70-85 percent of the power and the rear 30-15 percent also the rear pads should have 4-6 millimeters when new baking up to ajust the rear is correct but you would have to back up to china for this to acctually work properly it only takes a couple of minutes to take off the tires and ajust and clean them just a star nut you can usually adjust by hand

 

Damn I sure love discs all the way around lol.

 

I never made it to china but accomplished it in a parking space. It depends on how poorly adjusted they are. You also have to remove the drums which can be a PITA if they haven't been removed in a while. Doing so will set the adjustment properly and from then on, backing up will work just fine.

 

are you sure just just 1 click will do it? or should i pull the ebrake up till it grips a little?