Mercedes 814d (1995 pre vario) Where can I get brake shoes?

[gypsy]

when i took my old vw to africa a took a full set of brake linings and rivets . lighter than taking spare shoes .
so long as the thickness is ok . other linings can be drilled and riveted on your shoes . easy job really.
i remember when almost all linings for all vehicles were riveted you just bought linings . some linings will fit several vehicles its only the shoes that change .

So is the lining material flexible so as to be transferable from one diameter of shoe to another?

I noticed on my vans old shoes a considerable thickness of lining material still remains however the heads of some of the rivets are getting very close to being exposed. It seems hence that the non-riveted bonded method would be a more efficient use of lining material.

 

[vwalan]

in modern days they do bond them . but for years and years they were rivetted . most trucks rivetted . i have loads of vw linings here . also when i had the garage we had a handpress type riviting tool . we did truck linings as well. i had a vw garage my mate did trucks we shared a yard . i stated with m,bike linings as a kid . i helped my uncle in his garage . back then even relining a clutch was common .
with a vw the same linings covered several different shoes . sometimes we cut them down and redrilled carefully to make them fit other vehicle shoes . even more so when i was driving in asfrica . they could almost reline anything every where . i spent several days helping in some of my friends workshops over there . it was good fun.
but honest relining brake shoes is easy most truck garages will know someone that can do yours .
with care its amazing what can be done .
once had to reshape some disc pads as couldnt get the right ones . good grinder and half an hour all fixed .
all problems can be fixed if you have to.

 

[gypsy]

Thanks for the advice, it has been very much appreciated.

Brakes back together again, off to be MOT'd in the morning.

The image shows them back, cleaned, one of the levers replaced, some pins replaced, re-lined and hopefully fully functional.

All cost me about £400

 

[listerdiesel]

Good job!

Peter