1984 Vanagon - Drum brakes help

[SyrupCity1855]

Hello all,
Recently refreshed the brakes on my Vanagon with new hard and soft lines, calipers, drums, shoes, etc. I have been beating my head against the wall for weeks now trying to get my brake drums to play nice.

My drums will go on and rotate with minimal drag until I fasten the small retention bolts (unsure what they are actually called). Once secured they are extremely difficult to rotate by hand. I have taken everything apart and reassembled multiple times following the Bentley manual and various online resources. I feel confident everything is assembled correctly. I have also backed off the start adjustment as much as it will go and have the emergency brake hanging with plenty of slack. I went as far as to throw the tires on and move in reverse 5ft or so hoping they would self adjust.

I am not sure what obvious step I am missing, but I could really use some help. Has anyone run into a similar situation? Thanks! Dustin

[MarkWard]

As a test, omit the small bolts and install the wheel. See if you have the same issue. I wonder if the drum is not seating square on the hub.

[SyrupCity1855]

Had the same thought. I tried that with the van on the lift…the tension did not seem to change. I did not lower completely to the ground. Think I would see a different result from the there?

[skills@eurocarsplus]

almost bet 2 things are going on:

1) the shoe surface isn't machined deep enough into the hat (the part the bolts/wheel studs go thru) so when you tighten the bolts the drum binds

OR

2) the "anti water groove" is bighting into the backing plate for the same reasons (shitty machining)

a 3rd less likely but possible situation could be the shoes are too wide causing the same issue as #1
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[SyrupCity1855]

Was worried that a different set of brake shoes might be what is needed. It was suggested to me to buy a different set of drums about a week ago. My plan was to reuse my OE set but I picked up a cheap pair to see if there was any difference. As expected I think the new drums are binding tighter than the old set.

Really hate to keep throwing money at the issue but I am out of ideas.

[MarkWard]

Extra work, but remove the shoes and see how the drum spins. You might be able at chamfer the outer edge of the shoes with some 80 grit enough to get the clearance. While off compare to the old shoes.