Have you adjusted your rear brakes this year?

[99Yuk]

I know that most people know this, but a few may have forgotten to do it this year?

You know the problem, after a year or so of steady driving, any changes to the braking of your truck is so slow and gradual, that you become aclimatized to the soft braking until one day you realize, that wtf? Why do I have to push down on the pedal so hard/far? You may need new brakes, replacement fluid, etc. But maybe it's as simple as this. It was for me.

The rear brakes are drums and as such are not automatically adjustable.
The thoery goes (as explained by our Old guy Mech) that every time that you put your truck in reverse and then hit the brakes that they are adjusted, but in practice, rust, grime, dust, mud, etc gets in the way and jams that up.


So, he made me take off the rear wheels, and brake drums, and dig out the crap in there, and then put it all back together. Then we went out to the local wal-mart parking lot at night, when mostly empty, and did lots of backing up and then stopping, backing up, then stopping, many, many times.

Then I tried it out the next day. yup, made a difference. My truck stops easier now.

It only takes a few minutes to do, and it may help your braking distance, save wear of the front rotors pads, etc.

/end_rant

 

[grimm]

Yeah... I'm guilty, haha. I haven't had time to service the rear brakes. I did the fronts not too long ago. Maybe I'll set aside some time this weekend for the rear brakes.

 

[Bad bow tie]

Fronts are going to get changed in the very near future. I'll probably take a look at the rear while I'm at it.

 

[CLC]

brakes

Didnt know you can adjust rear disc?

 

[sumo]

Didnt know you can adjust rear disc?

cant, but you can clean the brackets, lube slide pins to prevent rust build up and uneven wear. Infact i got to do this to the fronts as well as a resurface

 

[RSymons]

Wow, did not know this thanks for the info, will be doing it real soon!

 

[kope]

cant you remove the oval rubber boot in the back of the rear drum brake housing and use a flat blade screw driver to turn the "clicker" and manually take out the slack in the pads? thats how i've always done it.

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

eh mine has all new rear drum parts on it now. was way over due. luckily the drums fell right off (almost literally, since they are sometime a real *****)

but noticed on my 2-door you cna't really get to the adjuster from the outside of the drum like on other drum set-ups. sort of dumb.

 

[Danny_Z56]

My Cop Tahoe stops on a dime,no need for adjustment

Good advice though.

 

[99Yuk]

cant you remove the oval rubber boot in the back of the rear drum brake housing and use a flat blade screw driver to turn the "clicker" and manually take out the slack in the pads? thats how i've always done it.

I think that your right. At least that's the theory. But if you live anywhere it rains and there is mud, or anywhere there is snow and salt, alot of crud builds up in there and the clicky wheel thingy doesn't spin anymore. In practise you still end up having to take off the drums to clean out the crap.

At least I did. Then again, I'm in the Great White North where Road Salt runs through our veins, and we only have two months of bad skiing.

---------- Post added at 08:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:05 PM ----------

My Cop Tahoe stops on a dime,no need for adjustment

Good advice though.

I've often wondered how well those departments kept up on maintenance of their vehicles. I see ex-RCMP vehicles come up in the auction every once in a while. I usually steer clear of them. You gotta believe that that motor has been ridden hard and put away wet. Still nice find. Especially if it stops on a dime! Mine even after the adjustment still has a spongy feel to it compared to my previous vehicles. BTW, I like your crash bars on your bumper. I can't believe they didn't take those off when selling it!