another brake question

[swidd]

Just quickly....

With 69,000 miles on a 5-speed 2007 HB, I just had some brake service done; I wanted to replace the pads and rear shoes to improve what I perceive as decaying brake effectiveness; the pedal goes lower, and stopping power is way less than when new. It is soft, rather than strong.

The mechanic shop did an inspection and determined the pads and shoes, and the disc and drum, are all good to stay, no replacement needed, they say they can't measure any amount of wear on them. They did find that the shoes in the rear drum is too far from the drum (said it barely touches), so they adjusted it, and driving home, the braking power was improved, but the pedal is still soft and low. Also, they put new brake fluid in, by my request.

They suggest I begin to apply the parking brake/e-brake frequently to engage a self-adjustment mechanism. I was wondering if they have this correctly, as Google says the rear drums will self-adjust by braking while in reverse. I don't use the e-brake, but I do apply the brakes while backing up slowly - with no good results, as evidenced by the above.

So, do I have to have higher reverse speed when doing the self-adjust reverse braking? Or is it in fact the e-brake that performs self-adjustment? Or does it just not work, and I should put some new shoes/pads in there by myself or through another shop?

How long does the pads/shoes last for careful drivers anyway?