Drum brake

An improved drum brake for a wheel rotatably mounted on a vehicle axle of the type which includes a drum mounted for rotation with said wheel, a brake spider having a center line and a transverse line perpendicular thereto, said spider being mounted on said axle and having a pair of actuator means mounted at opposite ends of said center line of said brake spider, each said actuator means having an actuation end and an anchor end, an arcuate brake shoe extending from said actuation end of each said actuator means to said anchor end of the other said actuator means, each said brake shoe being capable of limited movement along a path generally parallel to said center line of said brake spider between said actuation end and said anchor end, said wheel and said drum rotating in a normal direction from said actuation end of each said actuator means to said anchor end of said other actuator means so that a leading end of each said brake shoe is adjacent said actuation end and a trailing end of each said brake shoe is adjacent said anchor end, wherein said improvement comprises:

• a lining on each said brake shoe which has a useable layer thereof which is thicker at said trailing end of said brake shoe than at said leading end of said brake shoe;
• and
• said brake shoe being relatively located on said path toward said actuation end prior to wear of said useable layer of said lining and tending to be relocated along said path away from said actuation end during wear of said useable layer of said lining throughout the life of said drum brake.