The story starts when i bought this van in december for 800$. I took it to a shop to have them tell me everything that would need to be fixed on the van. Amongst many other things, the van needed a rear break job aswell as a rr wheel bearing. I diy fixed replaced the rear drum breaks, cylinders like most diyers do. One at a time. I even took pictures. Yes i used all new springs, drums, shoes and cylinders. I bled the brakes and in the end felt i had done a pretty good job.
After that i took the van in for the rr bearing job, because i wanted to have a mechanic look closer at the diff and rear assembly as a whole. Ive had a few mid 90s GM vans and have had alot of problems in with the back end.
This mechanic said the diff was bad and said to replace the whole rear package. With a used replacement and labor it cost bout 500$. Not bad. I went ahead. They failed to put my cylinders into the replacemnt, staying with the older ones in the package.
This is where the rr brake burning smell/smoke nightmare begins.
I brought it back 3 times. They would make minor adjustments. Always the same problem. Yes, the shop is budget and probly a significant level of incompetence, but i rolled the dice for a cheaper price.

This is when i brought the van to a more upscale more $ shop. I like the mechanics and communication. They said the brake work looked good but ajustments in the LR brakes were a little off puting more pressure on the RR, causing more heat and also had warped the new drum i had just put on.
They reajusted, but still more heat in the RR wheel. This is when the second clylinder job gets done because the first shop left old cylinders in replacement axle. (Maybe this is getting confusing)
I went ahead with the shop replacing the cylinders, new brake drum, new spring kit for both sides. I thought there is no way it can go wrong if i just let them illuminate all the possibilities in their own shop. Well....guess what.
They said its all good to go and there was only 20 degree temperature difference in the wheels after test driving.
I get it home and the damn thing is smokin smellin like burning brakes from the RR side.
I drove it round town a few more hours to give it a chance. Same deal. Burning.

I want to know, is it possible. Could something bent in the rear axle assembly cause the wheel to turn so that it would effect the brakes??

Thank you all for the responses

 

Something bent they just aren't seeing?
I asked the mechanic and he said " in my case no way something bent back there would be affecting your brakes like that"
So i guess theyre looking?
I have my doubts

 

If something with the axle is bent, it would naturally follow out to the wheel, and it would wobble. If you have the means to jack up the van, remove the wheel and see how much drag is on the right side drum, maybe back the adjuster off a few clicks, trial and error, but something is tightening up that right side adjuster. Also, the bleed job and that proportioning valve could still be in the mix to.

 

It could be when they changed rear end , assuming it was a simi flooting rear end , they installed a full flooting rear end , then adjusting brakes too tight , full flooting rear ends tend to adjust tighter when you brake moving forward [when too tight] insted of only in reverse. Could also be emg. Cable hanging up [or missing] , also no where did i read that the adjusters were replaced. Maybe bad or incorrect adjuster wheels. I whould be leary of the shop who installed a complete rear end if you only needed a seal , they make over size axels/bushings for simi flooters and hub shims for full flooters. What brake system do you have [jb7 , jb8 , etc.]? I lean toward incorrect parts / shady shop . Anything in the hdy. Lines holding pressor should efect both rear brakes i would think. Something is causing rr to over tighten or not letting hyd. Pressor or parking brake cable on the right side release. Please let us know what it turns out to be and i hope my two cents helps.

 

Problem fixed
It wasnt the E brake cable locking up, the proportioning valve nor the adjuster screw adjustment or warped drums.( though one of the drums was warped probably from heating up)
Turns out it was just a crappy pair of brake shoes. I had just put on some new cheap ones from o reillys when i did the rear brakes. Apparently they were just getting really hot and burning under normal use.
The shop replaced mine with a pair of AC Delco brake shoes and voila. Problem solved
No labor charge. They wanted to figure it out as much as I did and this was the last piece.

Add that to the multiple things that can go wrong back there.
Seems dumb and it probably is. Im just glad its over. On to the next dilemma

Thanks for all your responses
I hope this helps someone in the future

 

Thanks for letting us know.