<VV> brake job--a few questions

[aeroned at aol.com]

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1) Why is one of the hold down springs tapered? Which side does it go on? 
 
2) What is the "special washer" for? Where does it go? 
 
3) Does anyone have a picture of exactly how the strut between front and rear pads is installed? 
<SNIP>
 
John,
 
I'll take a shot at answering your questions.
 
I'm not sure why one hold down spring is tapered, but I have some guesses (I won't confuse you with those). The tapered spring goes on the shoe that doesn't have the self adjuster hardware, toward the front of the car.
 
Both of the shoes use the same metal piece. The hole in the center web for the hold down spring is sized for the "top hat" washer that goes through the adjuster hardware. That makes the hole too big for the tapered spring. The "special washer" goes under the tapered spring to prevent the spring from getting caught up in the hole.
 
I don't have a picture of the strut between the shoes. This strut goes slightly below the wheel cylinder. If you look at the ends of this strut, you'll notice that one end has a double step. The double step goes toward the rear shoe, one step is for the shoe and the other is for the adjuster arm. There is also a small oval spring that goes on the double step side.
 
It is always a good idea to do one side at a time. This way you can look at the other side for some guidance. If this is not possible you could look at the other axle's brakes. The difference here would be the emergency brake (there on in the rear, not there on the front), but the hardware is the same. Another possible pitfall of this method is that you're counting on the last person to have put the brakes together correctly.
 
Ned