M211 brake help

I started to tear into my brakes to inspect and check out the seals and wheel bearings and had some questions. First, there is very light rust in the inside of the housing and on the metal of the brake shoes. Can you paint these areas (excluding the actual brake pad that contacts the drum) without harming or running a risk of the heat of the brakes catching the paint on fire? Seems unlikely, but just wanted to cover my bases first. Secondly does anybody have any good step by step instructions or tips for repacking the wheel bearings, inspecting the parts, and retightening the lock nuts ect? I've heard that you should snug them up and then back them off a bit. I've never worked on them before and want to do this right and safely the first time. Thanks.

The best thing to do is get a manual. M135/211 manuals turn up on epay once in a while, but some clown always drives the price thru the roof. Portrayal Press has all the manuals for these trucks and they're either new originals or good reprints so you don't have to worry about missing pages or major grease stains. As yet, I haven't seen any online [pdf, etc]. As for painting brake parts, I don't see a problem. Most over the road brake parts are either primed or painted. Good luck with the truck!

you can paint every thing BUT not where the brake parts rub IE pad's or the in side or the drum

deuceman 51,
I agree with lacoda ,get a set of manuals from portrayal press, 973-579-5781. Get the whole set on the M-135, you will use all of them, I have , very helpful,,it answers the questions you are asking, as a min I would get the two I'm gong to mention, TM 9-8024, $69.00 and TM 9-1819AC $59.00. They will send you a list of applicable manuals for the M-135.
About your brakes, I would clean the shoes with brake cleaner and pull back the rubber cups on the wheel cyl and inspect for leakage and contamination, if so get new cyl.
I just did a brake job on one of my M-135 and replaced all the shoes and wheel cyl, by the way I used Dot 3 fluid and flushed the system clean, also used white grease on where the shoe rubs on the back plate. I also had the drums turned. Check the adjusting star for wear, one of mine was in bad shape and I replaced it. Made it easy for the adjusting job.

I actually have a complete set of manuals for the truck, but just wanted to know if any of you guys have tips or tricks not found in the manual. I also wanted to avoid any what not to do lessons. Thanks for the tips. One other question I have...did you guys replace all the wheel seals on the hub? I know it is what is suggested in the manual, but at the current high prices of surplus seals, that can really add up especially if there isn't anything wrong with them. Does anybody have any sources for bearing and seals besides the MV surplus route, ie..Napa, carquest, ect. Thanks again.

deuceman,
I replaced all mine, now I know what I have, to me its worth it. I don't know when the previous owner did anything to mine. Antelope Valley has both inner and outer seals

deuceman,
I should mention, don't forget to put the cork seal on the rear axles, if you don't they will leak..You can make your own.

its easier to fix when you have to take everything apart fix them all at one time and you wont have to fix them again,my experience with aftermarket brngs wasnt good ,the radius on the inside of the aftermarket brngs was smaller than the stock ones,so the brngs DIDNOT seat up against theback of theaxle housing,this means the inner hub seal DIDNOTgo back far enough on the oil sleeve to keep it from leaking after just a few hundred miles,i had to do both rear axles over again, use the correct brngs to start with and DO NOT FORGET THE CORK SEALS,, tony thanks for the pics on the tailgate,now if i can just find one for my m211 ,i know its not a stock item on my truck but i think its a neat tailgate,and i wont have to carry a ladder to get in the bed,good luck to all and our gmc trucks