Chevy & GMC Vans

All new brakes installed last August. Cylinders,hardware,shoes, drums. A few months later I adjusted the rear brakes as they didn't seem to be working right. Fast forward to now, when I replaced rear axle oil and cover and gasket. I noted that the axle had a spot where it was hard to rotate. Lets say from 12 oclock to 3 oclock. I pulled drums and the axle was fine. Had drums turned, re installed, adjusted the shoes and realized the drums don't really self-center. I then applied the brakes, holding the pedal down with a stick thinking the shoes would center the drums and I could bolt on the wheels and be done.
The drums spun freely!!! With brakes applied!

WHY???? Last year when I bled the whole brake system, I did the rears first , and then the fronts. Lines are all origonal. Could a rubber hose be plugging up and causing this?

That's what I am looking for.... why , what and any others with this experience?
What I did.... started the van and stomped the brakes repeatedly. Got a bad pedal at first and then all was good and the rear brakes were holding. Left brake pedal pushed down with stick and bolted up the wheels. Problem solved? Or trouble in the future? Also, last year I flushed out old brake fluid when I did the brake work.

It's probably that the rear shoes need to be adjusted. Most of the time the self adjusters don't work well. Using the parking brake usually keeps them adjusted.

thanks Dean,I knew you'd come around. I thought that also but.... with the pedal held down, I was able to pull off the drums and the brake cylinders were not pushing out. I do see that a person could have so little adjustment that the cylinders would not be able to push the shoes out. But it seemed that no fluid pressure was in the cylinders until I stomped the pedal a few times with motor running.....
I have never had rubber brake line troubles so I am ignorant .... can the rubber hoses swell internally and plug up???

Emergency brake use..... always a scary thing to use after years of no use, but I am seeing here that that is a good thing to use to keep rear adjustment.

Yeah I suppose the rubber hose could swell from inside and plug. We have seen that a few times on here with front brake lines, usually it involves caliper not releasing.

Another option is that the cylinders are jammed due to improper hardware or shoe installation. Did you do the work or a shop?

due to improper hardware or shoe installation. Thems fighting words!
No I did them and did them well. Like I said, with the drums off and pedal fully held down , the cylinders were at rest, no pressure pushing them out. It was the wierdest thing.
Once I get some more other work done on it, I will road test and find some dirt roads to test the brakes out and see if the rears are working ok.
Time to finally install my tranny cooler. Been doing interior work adding 12v and 110v outlets, changing up the conversion lighting to be usefull and adding storage. Have not yet been camping or fishing this year!!!

I can attest to the fact that a rubber brake line can develop an issue where no fluid can pass through it.
No visible issues with it,, just plugged, probably due to some sort of internal blister that blocks the flow.
I can also attest to the fact that if you don't regularly set the ebrake, the rear brakes will wear and not re-adjust themselves as they should.
That will lead to the wheel cylinders over reaching, gradually deteriorating your braking performance, as well as failing prematurely.

No camping yet! We just got back from our second trip already!

..... yep, that is how I look due to not getting out camping and fishing!!!
March was NOT like last year, April was WINTER for 25 of its days, and then I started working on projects.....
I vowed to do ALL projects on the van, that have been on the list of things to do, before doing projects on my dirtbike(motivation), and I am real slow at getting things done.
Looks like June 1 will be my first outing! A dual sport ride in Pa. and then Camping with my sons in the Catskills for Fathers Day. And in between, an Adventure Tour ride in Atlanta, NY. In 10 years, I have NEVER, NOT camped in April or May!