Originally Posted by CampSpringsJohn

You have drum brakes for the rear axle. How far down can you push the emergency brake pedal? Seeing how much travel your emergency brake pedal has is a way to determine if the rear brakes are tight enough. Now, if you have the emergency brake on the driveshaft, at the rear of the transmission, what I just posted doesn't matter.

When you step on the emergency brake pedal, it should go pretty far down, close to the floor, but not hit the floor. Check this on a hill and see if it will hold the truck there. If it hits the floor and won't hold the truck, they are too loose. If they grab with 3 clicks on the pedal, they are tight, probably too tight. The first two clicks, the brakes shouldn't be catching yet, the 3rd, it should start to take hold.

This is how I check them. I don't know what the service manual would say about how to check them.