Originally Posted by
randyscycle
The reason I did the mod, was because when I called Memphis they wanted $25 per shoe for relined and my old ones in exchange. That is $100 per axle. $200 for the truck. Then I have to wait a week for UPS to bring the shoes and sit on the core charge for another week. I can buy brake shoes for my Deuce, which are twice that size for the same price, and outright with no core exchange. I think the M715 shoes are overpriced personally, but that is just my opinion.
In this case, I had a few old GM axles laying around, stripped a set of old shoes and sent them back for the core on a $60 complete set of shoes which are readily available off the shelf. With a quick measurement, and less that 20 minutes, I had all four shoes modified to fit. The one time expense of $10 for the springs makes that a non-issue for future replacement. The switch to the E250 Ford wheel cylinders also assures that I will always be able to procure them locally as well.