Yamaha Brake Shoes
 

I attempted to change the brake shoes on my 2015 gas Yamaha. I've been changing brakes on my vehicles for 30+ years and never experienced the problems that I did with my golf cart.

1. I ordered aftermarket brake shoes from Amazon. They looked identical to the old shoes.
2. The spring clips that hold the shoes to the back plate were a pain to install. Can they be replaced with the springs that have a round hex cap like most brake shoes?
3. I installed the new shoes only to find out I couldn't get the brake drum over the new shoes.
4. I'm suspecting the tabs that fit into the back plate and self adjusters are too long keeping the shoes extended too far out preventing the drum from fitting.
5. I sent the shoes back to Amazon and installed the old shoes with no problem except for those spring clips.

Any comments / advice will be appreciated.

Item #3, you normally need to turn the brake adjuster to a much shorter length, then you can install the drum and readjust so the brakes operate correctly, I have done golf cart brake replacements twice and had to do this both times, and I have lost count of the number of times I did this on cars.

If the old shoes fit back on no problem I would not rule out that they sent the wrong shoes.

As stated, you do have to turn the self adjuster back in. I do question as to why your chnaging the brake shoes? They last a long time so Im wondering if there is another issue that needs to be addressed.

Yamaha Brake Shoes
 

Thank You for your response. I did have the adjusters all the way in and still couldn't get the drum on.

Yamaha Brake Shoes
 

Thank You for your response. I did have the adjuster all the way in and still couldn't get the drum on. The reason I'm changing shoes is because the shoe holding clip broke and caused excessive wear on the driver side shoes.

My original question: Can I replace those spring clips with a typical spring and cap shoe holder that is found on all automobile shoe brake assemblies?

Lots of youtubes on this, never worked on a golf cart but also have never worked on a spring brake system without a spring compressor and backing plate installation tool.

Im big on using OEM parts. They can be purchased online or at the local dealer.

The Clip breaking is a red flag also.....Ive worked on thousands of carts and never seen that.
Make sure everything is in place and correct. Broken clip and brake shoes that dont fit, something is up.

Some times their difference from front and back shoe? Will shoes fit in drum off? Hard to tell I’d brake material was same thickness with worn old shoes? Did you stack new shoes on old shoes and as was they exact same dimensional shape? When I had easy go cart I had to take drums off once year and clean dust buildup our or they would start acting up.