How to adjust drum brakes (no access to adjuster)

SunlitComet said:

remember you will only be opening one on each side. the one that gives you the closest access to the adjuster star wheel.

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Ah, I see what you mean. I haven't got it apart yet as I just finished getting the Camaro together and now its raining...

Well now I found out why I have no holes punched. The adjuster is under the slave cylinder. You'd have to cut a hole in the axle housing to get to this thing.



I watched the adjuster work flawlessly while I had someone press the brake. I let it go so far to the point it was hard to get the drum on. Pressing the brake once or twice puts it right back as loose as it was.

I also dont understand how its suppose to work if the bottom actually stays completely stationary. Someone explain this to me! Why would the adjuster be necessary at the top if thats where the cyl is? If anything it pivots the bottom to come in more, not out.. WTF

I really dont know what to do next. Peddle goes all the way to the floor; not like air in the line to the floor, but more like a soft peddle. The truck can stop with the peddle half way, but I just prefer stopping like it hit a brick wall a quarter of the way down...

Needing advice.

Your not suppsed to press yhe brake while trying to put the drum on. First adjust then put on the deive and it will adjust or be wrong then you gotta open it again

Gzes said:

Your not suppsed to press yhe brake while trying to put the drum on. First adjust then put on the deive and it will adjust or be wrong then you gotta open it again

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I wasnt. I wanted to see if the adjuster actually turned. It did.

Then I adjusted it so the drum was tight. Pressed peddle and it was no longer tight...

The little handle wasnt shimmed and turned by itself. Just adjust it again and it will be good

Gzes said:

The little handle wasnt shimmed and turned by itself. Just adjust it again and it will be good

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Im not sure what you mean. Ive adjusted this a couple of times and it immediately becomes loose again.

Something I noticed that Ive never seen before is that when the pedal was pressed brake fluid came out the res. I had to put the lid back on to bleed (which was same result as all other times; no air). Is this normal?



Even my Chiltons manual doesnt have this drum assembly listed... errr

UPDATE:

Just got it all back together. Cleaned everything up, adjusted the star as close as I could, and did a few reverse runs.

Seems to stop a little better, still pulls (will be checking alignment), pedal is quite a bit stiffer, but still has the travel.

Im wondering if some of this maybe related to the steering sensor as the steering seems a little bit loose; about 4 inches of play when sitting still. Still trying to read and educate myself on this; so any clarification would be greatly appreciated.

you appear to have a 10" drum that is why it is different and not every variation is in a aftermarket manual.

SunlitComet said:

you appear to have a 10" drum that is why it is different and not every variation is in a aftermarket manual.

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Does this mean there is no way to adjust the brakes except for using the built-in reverse method?

I have the same style brakes, and I can tell that the rear brakes don't grab like they're supposed to, because I can't seem to get them adjusted properly. I'm always warping front rotors too, because I assume the front brakes are working harder than necessary.

Casey

howdy aarve, you can but you have to take the drum off to do it manually.

---------- Post added at 10:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:45 PM ----------

when you do just do some cleaning and greasing of your threaded adjuster assy.