Never mind.  I figured it out.

I've worked on a lot different rear brakes over the years but I've never seen anything quite like the self adjuster on this thing.  It's basically just a spring loaded wedge that works it's way down and pushes out on the shoe as the lining wears.  Now I know why RetBugtech likes working on these little critters so much!   :wink:   :lol:

Did you put rear brake clys on ?     I guess you know about the "cross bleeding"   Rt front, left rear  then left front and rt.rear.  Your critter has staggard brake lines.
      O'yeah  , The wedge has a little "tit" on it and SHOULD face the backing plate. This way it won't get stuck on the backing plate.

Yep, I put new wheel cylinders on the rear . . . didn't know about cross bleeding.  I got kind'a cross and bled a time or two while I was trying to get all those springs hooked up correctly.  Is that cross bleeding?   :lol:

On the left side, the little tit on the wedge was facing the drum, not the backing plate.  It was in a bind . . . I'm pretty sure this was the source of the wheel almost locking while backing up.  Everything between the drum and backing plate is now new, or pretty close to as good as new.  While it was apart, I also threw on a set of rear shocks just for good measure.

I've got to repack the wheel bearings on the left side (I dropped one in the dirt  #-o when I was putting it back together last night).  After that, I've got to try to pry down the wedge and "cross bleed" the brakes.  That ought to put the rear in pretty good shape.  Next weekend I think I'll try to re-do the front end.  I've got new strut inserts, new strut bump stops and dust covers, new ball joints, one new hub and one new CV axle.  I'm going to try to get new bearings and another hub and axle . . . and maybe even new strut mounts and bearings.

If all that works out, I might even try to fix the air conditioning and get it painted.  

Zen, I wish I could tell you for sure what causes this.   Belive it or not, I have seen Bugs do this. Matter in fact , my Allison is doing the same thing.
     Here is a thought.  New shoes, did not have the drums turned. Could be that due to the shoes not being seated in ,are grabbing on one end of the shoe.  The shoes are pushed out like a clam shell by the cly and maybe are grabbing at that point. Maybe the drums are glazed up and takes longer to seat in causing all of this to happen.  Why it only does it backing up is a mystery.
      Back in days past , shops had the shoes radiused to the brake drum.
   You just about can't do that today due to the fact that some companies don't put enough lining on the shoe anymore. They are 50% worn out .
       I'm going to have my rear drums "turned" even though they look fine and see what happens.
      Zen, Why don't you slack up on your "wedge" a bit and see what happens. You can do this through a lug bolt hole.
      Anybody else have a theory on this ?? I would love to hear them.

      Hey Attack Chicken !    You do this stuff all day long. What do you think ??
        :-k  :-k

Hmmmm !   I seem to remember that someone told me about the bevel thing.  But I think you have a plan.
     I plan to have my drums turned anyway just for the heck of it so I don't have to mess with them for a while.