A tool for attaching and removing the springs extending between and interconnecting a set of brake shoes in a drum-type brake assembly comprises a rigid plate which is adapted to be slidingly and removably positioned between facing ends of the shoes adjacent the apertures in the shoes in which respective hooked ends of the spring anchor. Each surface of the plate includes a boss projecting normal therefrom which serves as a fulcrum for the second element of the invention which serves as a lever. The lever includes a distal end which is used to grasp and urge the hooked end of the spring into its' respective aperture in the shoe. This may be easily accomplished by levering the shank of the lever against the boss on the stationary plate extending between the shoes.