For the life of me I can't figure out why the rear drum adjusting lever won't fall into the notch of the adjuster. It just rides on the side. Anyone else see something I'm doing wrong?

 

I don't see anything wrong other than not using anti-seize on the threads of the adjuster. I also use it on the backing plate were the shoes touch.
Grease or white grease dries out with heat over time the anti-seize does not.


As for the lever not hitting the star where you think it should I have had ones do the same thing. Never had any issues with them just pop the drum on adjust the brakes and test drive.
Dave ----

 

Does the piece that turns the star wheel, have a beveled edge on it? If so, I thought that faced out. You might also put a small bend in it, to contact the star wheel.

 

Ya I took it back off and greased it up. I took it for a test drive and still feels like I barely have any back brakes.

 

And you adjusted them up so they were just dragging?
When you were adjusting did you press the brakes on a few times to center the shoes in the drums?
May want to check adjustment again then bleed the rear brakes to see what that does.
Bleeding the rear brakes would show if getting pressure to the wheels or not.
Dave ----

 

Personally, I prefer white lithium on brake adjusters.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

I wasn't getting any fluid to the rear brakes so I replaced the wheel cylinders and master cylinder. After replacing the master cylinder I had pressure again to the rear brakes. I bled the system until I didn't see anymore air bubbles. I also adjusted the adjusting screws until there was a slight drag on each rear wheel.

When I had the rear tires on jacks I would put the truck in gear and about once in every 4 tries of pumping the brake pedal it would stop the rear tires and the pedal felt good and firm. It did this in forward and reverse. But most of the time the pedal wouldn't get firm until pushing it down 3/4 of the way and the rear brakes wouldn't work at all. It's intermittent. Maybe I need to bleed some more?

 

Normally when you back up and hit the brakes, the rear shoe moves away from the anchor pin, effectively pulling the adjuster cable up, and the lever. It should then engage a notch on the star wheel. As soon as you go forward, the rear shoe will be pulled up tight against the anchor pin again and the lever will move the star adjuster (down) one click, tightening the shoes slightly.

So the routine in-service adjustment is to back up and brake "sharply", go forward a foot or so, and then back up, again, brake "sharply", go forward a foot or so, etc. This is a constant process, but only happens when both enough shoe wear has taken place and the driver happens to go backwards in reverse.

Can simulate this by pulling on the cable at an angle, it should lift the adjuster lever up, engage a notch, and releasing it should move the adjuster down a single click. Basic adjustment, the initial manual adjustment, you want all the slop out of the brake parts you just put together. The way to do that is to run the adjusters up just as tight as they'll go, wheel will not turn, drums locked up tight. (This is the condition to bleed, too btw)

Then press the brakes a few times to center the shoes. Finally, back off till a "light drag" is felt. When you spin the tire, you might only get a single revolution. If it spins freely, you won't have brakes or they will be mushy. Shoes used to be arc'd to the drums as part of a brake job. This isn't done anymore. You also may be using new shoes with drums that have been cut a few times, etc. Point being, it's a little tougher to get good brakes right out of the box and so consequently you may need to adjust them a couple times. A "light" drag may be a "medium" drag today, I dunno. You're going to the same place with the adjustment by doing it this way, just coming at it from the other direction (fully tight; if there is slop in the system the pedal will be low and mushy similar to air in the lines, and the self adjusters won't. They need to get gription on the drum for the adjusters to work, that's why the initial adjustment has to be done manually.

Take a test drive for a few miles and check them again. Keep a "light drag" on them for a while. It will take a couple hundred miles for them to burnish in. I like to break them in with about a dozen moderate hard braking in a row, from about 60 mph down to around 10 or so, (safely) on deserted road or highway, get them good and hot till they smoke a little bit. Not too much, but don't be shy either.

 

You don't need to pull ahead, back up, stop, back up, stop works.

When you release the brakes the springs reset the shoes ...

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

It sounds to me like there is still air in the system.

 

It will take forever to let the adjuster adjust the rear brakes. One minor thing you didn't do that can make a difference is to manually adjust the adjuster out till you can't turn the tire. Then back it off till you have some slight rubbing.

That is the better way to do it, as you know from working on the brakes the shoe assembly flops around in there. You can adjust it out till one shoe starts rubbing, but the other shoe may be a long way from the drum because the assembly is not centered inside the drum. Adjusting till you can't turn the tire centers the assembly.

 

I didn't bleed the brakes with the shoes tight so I'll give that a try.

I adjusted the star until I felt a slight drag then took it for a test drive doing numerous reverse and forward pulls. I'll re bleed with the shoes tight, then back the adjuster off until there is a slight drag and hit the road with front and reverse pulls.

 

Update:

I tightened the wheel adjusters as far as I could, bled the rear brakes again, loosened the wheels adjusters until there was about medium drag on the wheels. Took her for a test drive in forwards and reverse about 20 times and it works great now. All 4 wheels will lock up when I hit the brakes hard and the pedal feels stiff. Thanks for all the input and help.

 

excellent!