I just finished installing new brake shoes and brake drums on my truck and it was my very first time changing brakes. Is it normal for everything to be tight because when I put the drum on it seem to be very tight slipping the drums on? I tried to adjust the brake shoes, but it didn't make much of difference.
I put the brake shoes and springs on right, but since it was my first time installing brakes I'm worried that I messed up.
advice maybe???
Brake Drums and shoes???
just make sure you put the large brake shoe to the rear on each wheel, a common mistake that a first timer makes.
Brake Drums and shoes???
It's tricky to adjust the drum brake set up because most all of them have self adjusters now. You can tighten the brakes which you should do until you can't turn the drum by hand anymore. Then you loosen them until they turn. Looseing them is the tricky part. You have to insert a small screwdriver in the adjuster opening to hold the lever off the self adjuster while at same time inserting another screwdriver or brake adjusting tool in the same hole to ratchet the brakes loose. It takes a bit of experimenting to find the right size screw drivers that will fit in there and work and of course you won't be able to look at the adjuster and adjust at same time so you have to do it by feel.
Some trucks ( usually larger trucks ) have a small slot at top to insert a feeler guage to get the adjustment but I'm guessing you're not talking about a 18 wheeler.
typically you need to back the brake shoes off a good bit because as they have adjusted themselves to work with less breaking material on the old shoes. When the drums are off you should see a star wheel like device at the bottom of both shoes which end up resting on little arms. You can turn that star wheel with a flat head screw driver that will very gradually allow the shoes come back in and allow the drum to spin freely over the shoes. Don't worry about over doing as they will readjust back to where they need to be on their own
make sure that you didnt switch the primary and secondary shoew positions
very common mistake
if the adjuster is all the way screwed inwards and the wheel cylinder pegs are in far enough(the springs should hold then inwards anyways) then there should be plenty of room for the drums to slip on
if the shoes are still in the outer groove of the circumference of the drums and are not sitting on the flat wear pads of the backing plates- as already pointed out- then this will be the problem alone
check to make sure the shoes are sitting up on the backing plate and not down in the groove, make sure the parking brake is off and make sure the shoes are sitting in the wheel cylinders.
The ONE thing that you should leave to the %26quot;pros %26quot; is the braking system.
OK so now that you have got it back together, you need to %26quot;adjust %26quot; the rear brakes.
To do that you need a brake adjustor tool. Put the car on two jack stands . Put tranny in neutral, engine OFF , so the rear wheels can turn freely. Spin the right rear tire slowly, by hand, while feeling to see if it is turning freely. If it is dragging, you need to %26quot;back off the adjustor wheel %26quot; on the back of the brake plate. There is a hole that you put the adjustor tool into , and crank it up or down, to get the wheel turning freely.
Once you think that the brake is free, get some one to turn the wheel and you apply the brake pedal from inside the car, and see how fast the wheel stops. The wheel should turn well but the brake pedal should stop the wheel quickly.
Do the same process for both rear wheels
. Take the car for a SLOW drive, no more than 20 mph to TEST the brakes. If the brakes are stopping the car well, with no hesitation, good. BUT if the car keeps on rolling, once the brake pedal is pressed hard., the rear brakes need to be tightened up more, by further adjustment on the adjustor mechanisim. Take note of which way the increase /decrease direction is on the adjustor, so you don't wind up doing it twice.
In future, leave the brake work/repairs to a certified technician, who really %26quot; knows %26quot; : what he is doing. The money you save, by doing it yourself, will be peanuts, compared to what it will cost you if the brakes %26quot;fail %26quot; and you kill some one .
Jim B. Toronto.
