This is the second time I've replaced brake drums, first time was a few years ago.

The passenger side went on fine, but on the driver's side I had quite a bit of interference from the shoes. I can get the drum over them and make it flush with the hub, but when trying to rotate the drum it would get stuck half way around. This is just rotating it with my hands on the drum, and I have studs in the hub so it's rotating the axle too. Without shoes the drum spins around just fine so it's not getting caught on anything in the backing plate. The adjuster (car is an '82) is screwed in all the way, and the brake cylinder is compressed about as much as the other side. I can rotate the drum on the passenger side no problem.

After getting frustrated and thinking that it might cause some trouble, I put the old stuff back on since they were still within wear limits. Then I discovered kinda the same issue with old drum; it would get stuck when turning it halfway, but I could keep it turning. It drives fine without abnormal noises.

So, I'm wondering is there anything else that can compress the shoes, or since I'm rotating the axle while I'm rotating the drum is there's anything that can make it get stuck half way? I doubt it's something to do with the axle since the drum spins around without shoes.

 

check your shor placement. the adjuster doesnt need to be turned completely in. just make sure the shoes are even and are not cocked slightly or one is not higher or lower than the other. make sure to clean and grease the backing plates where the show makes contact with the backing plate. the contact points shoud be a good reference when installing the shoes.

 

here's a pic of the contact points that i had greased before install:





and a pic of the unit together showing shoe locations:



and a final pic of the 85 with proper shoe and hardware placement:

 

You can also open the wheel cylinder bleed valve a bit and push it together more.
Yours is probably stuck out a bit do to the wear of the old shoes.

 

Yep, that's what mine looked like. I greased the six raised spots on the backing plate that showed contact.

I shifted the shoes up and down to no avail. It just baffles me that one side went on so easily and I was struggling with the other side for hours.

The pistons on both sides retracted when I put in the top spring, just as far as the cylinder on the other side that I had no trouble with. Hell, I could push them in by hand, so I don't think it would've been smart to press them further in with a too.

 

The e-brake cable on that side could be sticking and holding the shoes out a bit. Either that or there's something wrong with the adjuster or shoe where they meet. Look at the slots at the ends of the adjuster, if there's a gap between there and the shoe then something is holding it up. File the slot in the adjuster or the shoe until it slides together all the way.