Hello people, its been awhile since I've posted, which is good because there just hasn't been any issues with the van.

I'm way on top of routine maintenance and keeping on top of things as I notice them, not letting things get out of hand.....usually....

Anyway I've got two things I'm wondering about.

I'm getting a light brake squealy sound that I'm pretty sure is coming from the rear brakes. No metal on metal sound or anything nasty. Pretty minor sound. I've never messed with the shoes on the rear, the front has new pads. I checked the FSM and found there was a peep hole (hah!) for checking the shoe thickness on the rear of the cylinder. This sounded great but I can't say I could really verify the thickness, it isn't a great peep hole. It SEEMS like its over the 1mm mark. Any tips or ideas would be great. If I gotta replace those shoes I'd love to do it before winter hits.

Secondly, as I was under the rear end finding the peep holes I noticed there as oil on the outside of the differential. I don't have any issues with the diff or any funny sounds, is this common? Is there a fix or should I not worry about it?

Thanks for any help folks, I really do appreciate, I've been bailed out so many times here!!

Mark in Maine

PS oh I don't know if it matters but she's an '87 auto 4WD