Can one hard brake create damage to a truck?

That truck probably has the sealed s-cam tubes that you don’t have to grease. Problem is, after a few years the grease either gets used up or dries out and the s-cam shaft can start to seize up and stick.
If you look at the s-cam tube there are stickers that are hiding Allen key head plugs that can be removed and replaced with a standard grease zerk. Then you can maintain them as per normal.
Just one possibility that I’ve experienced.

 

They do this with u-joints as well. An absolute scourge. I have no idea who's bright idea it was but they need to stop.

 

Oh, I don't think THIS needs much explanation. Years ago, vehicles had like 50 grease fittings. A grease gun( horrors) was standard equipment. To be blunt, it made the components last too long, and some engineers kid got a new mansion in the hills for suggesting they seal the holes, and can't be greased, insuring mechanical work for years to come. Some may argue, the sealing is better than years ago, and grease plopping on the road is a capitol offense these days, the holes were plugged. On some beaters, I took a grease needle and poked a hole in the rubber and filled it with grease. I figured a small hole and grease was better than none at all. It sure is a ripoff.

 

Brake adjustment (assuming its not near the end of its stroke) will not affect the amount of braking force to the wheel very much. It can, however, affect the timing that the shoes start to grab. More stroke required from the chamber means more lag to get the shoes to touch the drum. If one brake is out of adjustment and the other is correct, the correctly adjusted brake will start working a fraction of a second quicker.