I feel so stupid. I took the rear end out of the car several months ago and also removes all the brakes. Now I am putting it all back together and forgot which shoe is the primary. Is it the larger or smaller shoe?
Pretty sure the larger shoe goes toward the front. But I could be wrong. I hate screwing with 4 wheeler drum brakes. Give me an 18 wheeler drum brake setup any day
Thr primary shoe is the front shoe which is also the smaller shoe. The rear shoe (bigger and secondary) does 80% of the braking effect! This is because it is jammed up causing a wedge effect between the anchor pin and the drum when the brakes are applied.
Exactly what Mr Merciless said. That wedge effect is referred to as "servo action" in the industry. The wedge effect is why drum brakes work as well as they do, which other than heat disipation, ain't that bad.
I hate screwing with 4 wheeler drum brakes. Give me an 18 wheeler drum brake setup any day 
