I want to overhaul my brake system or at least the

Your drum brakes need to be adjusted first, most likely the pre-travel of the shoes is making the pedal feel soft. If it is still soft after shoe adjustment, you either have air in the system or possibly a bad master cylinder.

Sounds like your brakes need to be bleed. If that is not the problem then check to see if the pads or shoes need to be replaced. If u hear a grinding noise than you most likely need new brakes.

Hey Stan the man,need your vehicles info.,year,make,model and engine size and Tommy on the spot here will send you a picture diagram of your rear brake assembly.There's a special spring tool you can get at auto parts store to remove and install springs,me got one.

Hard how?

You machined or replaced the rotors
You removed all rust on hub & rotor mounting surfaces
You removed all rust from caliper & pad sliding surfaces
& lubed with anti-seize
You flushed all four corners (every 2 years) brake fluid
You bought the best pads out there (raybestos,wagner,etc)
You have no vacuum leaks at the booster & pedal holds until
the engine is started?

When you expeirience a hard brke pedal the first thing to diagnose is a bad or inop power brake booster. First thing to check is the vacume check valve on the booster housing that is connected to a vacmue hose. Be sure you do have vacume from the hose first before replacing check valve.

Rotors need machining

You need to remove the rear wheels and the rotor/drums. You will find your problem in the parking brake shoes. You will need to replace these.

How to replace the rear brake pads on a 1995 through 2001 Ford Explorer The system utilizes a drum-in-hat type rear brake rotor. The integral drum allows the use of a drum-and-shoe type parking brake system. All other components are similar to their front disc brake components Remove the two bolts on either side of the brake hose with the rubber boots. Do not remove the four bolts where the axle ties in. The two bolts to be removed require a 10mm socket/wrench. Loosen the pads from the caliper Rotor Removal In order to take the rotors off (replace with new or have them machined), it is best to loosen the emergency brake shoes. To do this, behind the rotors, in the back there is a rubber plug, remove that and you can use a screw driver to engage the teeth of the adjusting screw, turn it clockwise to loosen, usually 10-20 teeth. Usually this means turn it downward. After this, it may still be difficult to get the rotors off without tapping them. Use a rubber mallet and hit them from behind. Before really whacking the rotor, make sure you have loosened the adjusting screw enough. It may take heavy swings of the rubber hammer to do this. It will eventually break loose. Parking Brake You might want to check the parking brake while you are here. To remove:

• Remove the rear disc brake rotor.

• Remove the outboard return spring.

• Remove the adjusting screw spring.

• Remove the rear brake shoe hold-down spring and pin.

• Remove the brake shoe adjusting screw and nut.

• Remove the front brake shoe hold-down spring and pin.

• Remove both parking brake shoes and the inboard return spring.

• Check the parking brake lever for excessive wear and replace as necessary.

To install:

• Position the front parking brake shoe to the backing plate and install the hold-down pin and spring.

• Install the rear parking brake shoe with the inboard return spring.

• Position the brake shoe adjuster screw and nut on the shoes and install the rear shoe hold-down pin and spring.

• Install the brake shoe adjuster spring.

• Install the outboard return spring.

• Adjust the parking brake shoes and install the rotor, caliper and wheel.

• Lower the vehicle and tighten the wheel lug nuts to 100 ft. lbs. (135 Nm).

ADJUSTMENT

• Measure the inside of the drum portion of the rear brake rotor

• Remove the rear disc brake rotor.

• Using Brake Adjustment Gauge D81L-1103-A or equivalent, measure the inside diameter of the drum portion of the rear disc brake rotor.

• Subtract 0.020 in. (0.508mm) from the first measurement, adjust the brake shoes to that size

• Adjust the parking brake adjuster screw until the outside diameter of the parking brake shoes measures 0.020 in. (0.508mm) less than the drum measurement.

• Install the rear disc brake rotor.

Reassembly Reassembly is easy. Put new or machined rotors back on by sliding them over the lugs (they should slide on easily.) Loosen bleeder valve (having a catch bottle handy is good). Push calipers in slowly (using a c-clamp or large channel lock pliers), close bleeder valve. Put on pads. Lubricate metal clips with small amount of anti-seize. Re-adjust the emergency brake by turning the opposite direction from loosening. Refill the brake master cylinder

No they don't. If the feel smooth, then just change pads, if they are slightly scortched and feel slightly ruff, just have them turned.

If you have 6 bolts going around the center (manual lock in/lock out) hub, you are going to be there a while. The center hub needs to come off, and ALL of the internal wheel bearings need to come out. The whole locking hub must be removed in order get the rotor off. This is NOT an easy job, and you need a special tool to loosen/tightem the wheel bearings. Figure 2 hrs per side if you have all of the proper tools & skill level.