Manually adjusting those manual adjusters

[Swank]

Evening,
Looking for possible reasons why I make a righthand turn when I mash the brakes.
After about 1500 miles the pedal was feeling a little low, so pushed out the adjusters and bled all four sides today.  Got the pedal back, but it now wants to change lanes while stopping. Jacked it up, spun the wheels, ran the adjusters until the shoes started dragging, stepped on the pedal a couple good ones to center the shoes, repeated the spinning and adjusting, then backed the adjusters off a click.  Still pulls to the right. 
Jacked it back up, messed with it some more.  Now, the drivers side front has almost no play in the adjuster, the passngr side front is about 3-4 clicks loose.  Not as bad, but still wants to pull to the right, until you stand on it, then after it pulls to the right, it catches and will pull to the left.
I dont know, do I need to get the drums turned, or new shoes? Doesnt seem right to have one adjuster tighter than the other.
I have stock everything.  Newer rubber lines, newer wheel cylinders.  It had been developing a very slight pull to the right over the last couple months while braking, but nothing like it is since I "fixed" it today.

Any ideas?

[SkylinerRon]

Glazed shoes maybe?

[Ford Blue blood]

Had a very similar problem with the Edsel, would pull to the right but felt like it was adjusted properly.  Ended up pulling the drums and found the right side adjuster was frozen.  What felt like adjusting was really just pushing the adjuster around.  Pulled both sides apart , soaked the parts in "Evapo-rust" light coat of paint on the assembled adjuster, pulled apart and lubed the threads with anti-seize and have lived happily ever after.....

[RICH MUISE]

Ha, I drove my '57 for a year before restoration started. One of the things I learnt to deal with was the car wanting to turn right (or left.....don't remember) when applying the brakes. It was kinda neat going downhill on mountain roads and being able to go around right hand curves without turning the steering wheel. When I was removing the old brake lines on the car years later, I found out the brake line that runs on the differential was pinched closed on the right side. Must have hit a rock or something. Pretty sure that was causing the problem, but I never really had a need to check the rest of the system, as it was just removed and tossed.

[81TTA]

I'll throw another possibility out there...  We had a similar problem with the '57 when it was first purchased.  Went through the usual steps of replacing shoes, hard lines, rebuilding wheel cylinders, adjusting adjusters, etc. 

Found out the problem was with the flexible brake hose.  Although it wasn't leaking, the hose had broken down enough that it would flex/expand when braking.  This resulted in less pressure (compared to the other side) at the wheel cylinder.  Once those hoses were replaced, the "lane-change-when-braking" feature was disabled.

[Swank]

Right turn, Clyde.

Took it all apart today and figured it out.
At first I thought it was glazed shoes like SkylinerRon said.  Scuffed up the shoes and drum on the drivers side, threw it back together.  Drove excellent, felt like a new car, ... it has never stopped straighter, fast or slow, ...that lasted for about three blocks, then it started trying to drive in a circle again.  Dang.
Took the passngr drum off, ...the brake lining hit the floor. Guess thats why I noticed the pedal being low yesterday.  Dont know where it was, when it fell off, or what it was doing in there, but neither front wheel made grinding or scraping noises through all of the adjustments.
Oh, well.
Looks like I got a new pair of shoes in my future.

[KULTULZ]

Was the lining riveted or bonded to the shoe? Can't tell.

Had a 67 MUST come in with a front brake pull. Took the wheels off and someone had crimped off one side brake line.

[terry_208]

I once saw a 58 with no rear brakes, either side.  It turned out someone had put rivets into the connection of the hard line to wheel cylinder.

[Swank]

Was the lining riveted or bonded to the shoe? Can't tell.

They were bonded.

The stock front drum for a town sedan is 11"x2.25", correct?
Didn't measure it before I threw it back on, ...was getting late an rainy.

Any favorite brand shoes for better drum stopping power?

[djfordmanjack]

Oh no!!!!!.... another one....guess I'm late to the party, but when I started reading your thread, I immediately went---another brake shoe gone.... check this out Eugene:

http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=8352.msg79452#msg79452
http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=6705.msg79724#msg79724

I'd only get remanufactured RIVETED shoes !

[hiball3985]

X2 riveted only.

[59meteor]

I agree, I always get riveted brake shoes if at all possible.

[KULTULZ]

Any favorite brand shoes for better drum stopping power?

IMO

The only way to have safe aggressive drum brakes TODAY is having the shoes relined with a Kevlar material.

Brakes these days are junk, even MOTORCRAFT (CHI-COM).

[SkylinerRon]

Try checking with the brake specialist listings in Hemmings, services offered section.

Good luck,

Ron.