I just bought a dump truck that has been sitting for 6 years and wonder if the break pads go bad from sitting so long. The pads have plenty of life left and look good as far as I can see without taking the drums off. Thanks for the advice.
If they are not stuck to the drum there probley ok when you start running it the wheel seals will more than likely start leaking because of dry rotting and you will have too change the shoes then any way
The only way I have seen shoes go bad from sitting is the steel shoe rusting out, or rusting under the pad and jacking the lining off the rivets. If they look good, run them. You may well find the shoes are stuck to the drum and you have to mess with them to get them unstuck, but it doesn't usually cause lasting harm. Are these air or hydraulic brakes?
Along the line of the question by Mitch, just what (size/model) truck are we discussing here? Need a little more info about the unit.