New brake shoes or full assembly?

I've been on the road for 8 years, about 25K miles. The previous owner took one 1000 mile trip. I think these are the original brakes. This is the only one of the four that was like this. The pieces came tumbling out when I pulled the drum off. I was on some very rough road last summer. Has anyone replaced just the brake pads? I happen to have the 7200 lb brake assembly which is much more expensive than the 7000 lb assembly. ($250 for the whole shebang v. $60 for the shoes. If it's not that big of deal to do just the shoes I might dot that. I know you need a spring stretching tool. But what about all the wires that seem to run through the shoes?




Thanks...