Rear Brake Shoe Replacement

Hi All, Having just had some other bits done my garage says I need to to replace the rear brake shoes. The handbrake is fully adjusted as it is and they suggest the handbrake is too loose and will be an MOT failure. Could anyone give me any hints/tips on changing the shoes myself? Such as - is it a DIY job, is it fairly straightforward? Would I have to remove the caliper/pads to access the shoes, or can the drum be removed without? I have ordered some genuine shoes - I assume I need a fitting kit too (to replace the springs/clips etc)? Is there a guide anyone can point me to? I have searched the forums and found plenty of articles/posts on changing pads and discs and various bits on adjusting handbrakes, but little on replacing shoes themselves. Cheers, John

Fairly easy. You remove the calipers but do NOT detach the brake hoses, then the drums pull off although firstly you need to back off the adjusters, accessible through a hole in the drum and unscrew the spigots that retain the drums. Then detach cable(s) from shoe mechanisms, replace shoes, re-assemble, done. Regards.

Did mine today, very easy, but i spent a lot of time cleaning the discs up and the brake dust plates, Haynes has it all coevered, What i would like to kto the now and it is a very common problem, why did Volvo bond the linings to the shoes? My shoes that i replaced were like new except one of the linings had come and two of the others were starting to peel off, Gary

From your post it's not clear whether the slack in the handbrake mechanism was taken up properly first before shoe replacement was suggested. It's very important that you slacken the handbrake cable off fully first, then adjust the shoes so they just tough the drums, then adjust the cable to take up all the slack. The handbrake should then only come up a couple or so clicks. If you try to adjust the wear in the shoes using the cable adjuster in the centre consule they you will never get the handbrake to work properly. The shoes are generally non wearing and they are only applied when the car is stationary. The commonest problem with them is that the linings come adrift after some time.