I keep having to adjust the brakes on our 98 Timberwolf 4x4, both fronts and the rear. Have done it twice now. It's all cables and drums, no hydraulics and discs.

The shoes look great, everything actuates and functions fine, they just keeping loosing their adjustment tension. When they are functioning, the levers still feel soft and "spongy" if that makes any since.

Is it safe to say that the 22 year old cables are just stretching and due for replacement?

 

Cables usually stop stretching as they get older. Your brakes will need regular adjustment, a tiny amount of wear on the shoes makes a big difference on the handlebar lever, that's the way it is. Rust or water inside the drums makes them wear faster, may be worth checking that. Occasionally outer cables get damaged, and this can lead to that springy feeling on them. Try a new cable to the rear brake and see if it makes any difference.

 

Well I ended up attempting to adjust them this afternoon. After messing with the fronts, I got them to function again, but the right side kept locking up and not fully releasing when I let off the lever. When I was adjusting them I noticed just how much throw the lever had to have in order to make the brakes start grabbing, so I figured the shoes were shot.

I was right...

The armature that twists and spreads the shoes must have been close to vertical to make the shoes contact the drum, and that's likely why it wasn't springing back like it was suppose to.

A good cleaning, putting a little grease in some key spots, and installing the new shoes that I've had in the garage for a little while now lol, and now they work great and release like they're suppose to.

I'm sure after the next ride I'll have to adjust them a little more, but I do plan on ordering some new cables. I noticed that both sides at the knuckle, where the brake cable transitions from the flexible cable to the metal bend, that's suppose to be crimped together as one piece, has separated over the years, and you can actually pull them apart and expose the cable...

 

Those old shoes look rusty and wet. Difficult to keep water out once the seals wear a ridge on the backplate or hub, but as I wrote before, wet rusty brakes wear much faster. So dry 'em out occasionally, de-glaze the drum and shoe surfaces with Emery. You will have better brakes, that last longer between adjustments.

 

Yeah I actually had to scrape off a ridge along the inside edge of the drums to get them to slide onto the new shoes. It wasn't a groove, just a ring of caked on junk, came right off with a razor. But I ran some sand paper along the inside of the drums before final installation to give the new shoes a fresh surface to bed into.

The drum seals seem intact, but definitely old and stiff. Being that it's Florida and it's extremely wet this time of the year, I think that even with new seals, water would still find its way in with pretty much every ride... I would like to replace them, but not right away. But it's not much of a chore to just pull the drums off every once in a while and check things out. Only a cotter pin and an axle nut away

The old shoes had Yamaha stamped on them, so either someone has replaced them with OEM replacements before, or they're the originals from 1998. I'm leaning towards the latter lol

 

So after the first ride the other weekend on the new front shoes, it needed adjustment again, as did the rear... After a couple hours riding, there was absolutely NO brakes... No surprise really... So I ordered all new cables.

I threw them all on today, and at the moment it stops great once again! I'm sure it'll need some adjustment after the first ride or two as the cables stretch in some, but after that I'm hoping it wont be so much as an issue again. I guess we'll see!