Drum Brake kits

What drums and shoes are we using these days? Are the Powerstops good or is all OEM the only way to go?

I was looking at these cus it’s like half the price of a fully OEM replacement (shoes + drums + springs)

$254 Power Stop KOE15373DK Autospecialty Rear Replacement Brake Kit-OE Brake Drums & Ceramic Brake Pads

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074RKXDPQ/?coliid=I1WG22RGVQH0DG&colid=19LLM1IULSUQE

 

First. Never buy parts from scAmazon/fleabay. Seriously.

Second, why are you replacing them? We have guys on here with more than 250k miles on their factory drums and shoes and still plenty of life. Do you have less than 2mm of shoe left?

If not, stop dude. Save your money. People who insist on overhauling their drums when they’re fine is baffling to me.

If you’re going to fix some shit that’s not broken, start with other proactive maintenance. Radiator. Carrier bearing. U-joints. Those things make sense. Drums…. I seriously doubt you need to do anything with them. But if there’s something wrong with them, let’s hear it.

 

my mechanic said that I have about 5k miles left on them, that they’re at 5mm or so. I don’t know if that means I also need to replace the drums tho. I plan on inspecting them soon and I’ll upload some photos to hear what y’all think about the drums.

And I’m pretty positive just based off what my mechanic said (he’s an honest older guy) that at least the shoes need replacing

 

Verify it with your own eyes. Unless your mechanic deals with Toyota trucks that have rear drums on the regular, his claim is extremely dubious. Toyota says unless you're down to the last 2mm or so of material (IIRC) on the leading edge, you don't need to replace. Does he have a copy of the FSM in-hand, and he deal with 1st gen Tundras on the regular? If not, then I'd warn you to be skeptical. If he's a GM guy like I used to be, yes, I probably would've said the same 10 years ago. And I would've been wrong. I openly admit that!

And no, you DO NOT need to replace the drums with the shoes, unless the drums are damaged physically, or they've been (specifically) runout tested as being out-of-round. Even then, the drums can be turned for cheaper than you can buy new, and your factory drums will be far higher quality than anything aftermarket. Again, if your mechanic is telling you "you must replace drums and shoes at same time", they're generally full of shit, and I'm starting to not trust your mechanic if that's the case. Furthermore, the fact he doesn't seem to know or isn't telling you "you can simpy turn your drums, sometimes as little as $25-35/ea side, rather than buy new", it's concerning.

I'll break it to you: Just because someone is "older" or "seasoned" in generalities doesn't make them an authority on the topic. I can tag at least 15 people on this forum who are over 200k miles on their trucks, and still running on the original shoes, and those shoes have a solid 4mm-5mm of substrate left on the shoe, meaning they have twice Toyota's recommend replacement spec on them. On the original factory shoes.

Again. Verify with your own eyes. Don't blindly trust people because "mechanic" title. And if you do replace, go with OEM. A sale is coming up in the next 1-2 weeks. It'll come out close enough to PowerStop. PowerStop is good, but we have, within the last 2 months, had someone complain about drum warpage from their kit.

But seriously. Verify with your own eyes. If you can take a wheel off, you can pop a drum off after popping a wheel off. Learn how to visually inspect your own shit, post pics here, we're happy to help you learn. Toyota has the process to verify your drums in the FSM, a manual you can download from this very forum.

 

This is how "mechanics" make money off of rubes with little to no mechanical knowledge. You're willing to pay him good money based on what he said, and the fact that he's "honest and older". I would be seeking a second opinion. As @shifty` said, you need to inspect for yourself. Even if you can't take the drum off by yourself, have the mechanic that does prove it to you that parts need to be replaced. Knowledge is power.