I have a 1990 Ford F-250 HD with full floating axles. I recently changed drum brakes due to the parking brake not working, and sure enough they were worn. Also, one of the parts (in picture) was bent and didn't look right, but I got it put together bent. Before putting the wheels back on the truck, I forgot to adjust the brakes and the parking brake still did not work. I heard driving in reverse self-adjusts the brakes, but so far, the parking brake does little, and I live on a hill so I'm relying on chocks and the transmission in reverse to hold the truck, which I obviously do not want to do for a long time. Could it be the bent piece that is affecting the parking brake, or do I simply need to drive backwards more?




This is the side that was not bent. I took this picture to go back and compare to the bent one, but for whatever reason I did not think to take a picture of the bent side

 

Did you take your pic too low? Your not showing the arm.Yes! They sure do bend.What happens is,as the brakes ware down,the driver keeps pressing the pedal harder and harder in hopes the emergency brake will set.What this excessive force does,is bend that arm.You'll need to take it off and get out the 3lb hammer.Adjust that so when you press the e-brake,it actually moves the shoes outwards.I scratched my head for many hours figuring this one a few years ago.You'll get it! By the way,you can manually adjust the shoes as well by turning the wheel from the slot behind the rubber plug,in the backing plate.Make sure the adjuster and wheel are bent correctly.With replacement parts made in China and or just old and worn,things need to be tweaked a bit,so that when you do back up,the star adjuster will actually work.You need to look at things and tweaks things to ensure they all work.Take your time,it's well worth the effort once you have the rear brakes,cables and adjusters all working nice.

To make sure you understand which part needs to be SMACKED with the 3lb.It's the lever where the big e-brake cable from the pedal, directly hooks into.

 

The arm was perfectly fine, thanks for the speedy reply!

 

That piece hooks on the the part that connects to the star wheel which is your brake adjuster. It must be hooked up like in the picture for it to work. If you didn't you can adjust the star wheel with the wheel off or you can do it on. Either way you need to get the wheel off the ground. The star wheel must be adjusted properly.

 

I did, here's a picture of the passenger side. Did I hook it up right?

 

Your picture shows that you attached the spring part from the backside of the lever. The picture I show has it on the front side. I have seen pictures of them on different sides before. I am not sure how it should go on the 250 and not sure if it really matters. However, I would still want to look it up and do it like the designer wanted it. Sandy

 

When that little spring and that metal part (whatever that's called) is hooked up in the back like that,my concern would be with it rubbing on the spring going horizontally.

 

In looking at some 250 drum pictures, almost all of them are connected like yours. In thinking about it, the wire is holding the adjusting arm close to the back. From just a visual I would think your method would help serve that purpose and perhaps also prevent them from coming off and bending them when they wear as described above.

 

FYI. There is a rubber plug in a slot hole in the backer plate right behind the adjuster wheel, this allows adjustment of the brakes with a flat blade screwdriver or similar tool when they are fully assembled. I usually preset the adjuster before installling the drums so that they just slide over and then further adjust the shoes via the rear hole until they just begin to touch the drum.

 

When the auto adjuster moves the spring will only move the length of the star wheel prongs. Slight manual adjustments from the rear and the auto reverse adjustment should be the only time it moves. I don't think excessive wear can be an issue. Sandy

 

^ Brake self adjuster cable. ^

The self adjusters only work (If they work at all!), when you back up and step on the brake pedal.

Here's a pic of the rear brake parts from the 1980/89 truck parts catalog (cable shown as 2A178).

Notice the front drum brakes. Pic is actually from 1968/72 when F250/350 2WD's came with standard equipment front/rear drum brakes. 2WD front disc brakes were optional until 1973.

Ford changed the caption in 1980.

 

Accessing the adjuster from the back with the wheel on. The screwdriver in the picture is helping raise the adjusting lever to make it easier for the bigger screwdriver/handle to turn the star wheel. I haven't found I ever needed it. Again, star wheel needs to be adjusted properly.

 

That is not how they work unfortunately.

Self-adjusters only take up the very slight wear or clearance in the shoe lining over a long period of time, after they start to wear. Even then it's only one click at a time.

The initial brake shoe adjustment must be made manually or the self-adjusters will never work. Ever. You can drive backwards to Montana slamming on the brakes the whole way and it won't do ****. It's common to find pristine brake shoe linings and drums years later after an improper brake job.

Run the adjusters up just as tight as they'll go, till the wheel won't even spin. Depress the brake pedal several times to center the shoes and hardware. Then, back off the adjusters till the wheel will spin again, this time with a "light drag". This means the shoes actually touch the drums slightly.

 

Thanks to NumberDummy's diagram.Once everything is put together correctly and if you notice you still have no manual emergency brake,this is the big arm that becomes out of wack,when people keep pressing on the e-brake pedal too hard.





I know this through trial and error.I spent hours,after having everything replaced.I mean everything was wore and needed to be replaced anyway,the shoes,drums,all the e-brake cables,the shoe hardware.After all this though,I noticed the e-brake still wouldn't set with everything being brand new.These bent arms really fooled me for a few hours.That 3lb hammer put their proper curve back in them so when the pedal was pressed,the cables properly pulled to spread the shoes out against the drums and I had very nice emergency/parking braking.

Again though,this is after you follow everyone else advice about properly setting up the shoes and their hardware and only frig with this if needed.They got you covered so well with that part,I have nothing to add.......Well,since you have a nice pic of it,actually.If you happen to buy new hardware (yours all look fine.This is more for future searchers) this part,be mindful that it may need to be bent and tweaked (inward so that rides the wheel).Don't count on China parts being all set to go.

 

I am new to this site, and I am completely blown away by how everyone is willing to help out! Thank you guys for all the pointers and diagrams, they will definitely help me out