This is in response to Tedster's question, about how to adjust drum brakes, those with the self adjusters.
My best experience is to adjust them in four phases. The first two are used only when reassembling components after a brake job.
1. Put the drum on by hand, and rotate it back and forth. If you don't hear any scraping, pull it off, and adjust the brakes out by turning the star wheel with your fingers, and try again. Do this until the shoes contact the drum, and you hear scrapimg, and you can feel some drag. Make sure the shoes are centered on the drum. Hit them with the flat of your palms to move them around.
2. Hold the drum onto the hub with a wheel nut on backwards (this way the flat of the nut hold it on). Now adjust the brakes (from the back of the plate) until it is difficult to rotate the hub by hand. You may need to pull the hub off and re-set the shoes to center them again. Always make sure you go back and forth, not just one direction.
3. Once it becomes difficult to turn by hand, re-install the wheel and torque the nuts. Now rotate the wheel by hand, With just a small shove, the wheel should travle no more than 1 complete revolution before stopping from brake drag. If it doesn't, adjust the brakes (from the back of the plate) until it does.
4. Now get an assistant. Rotate the wheel in REVERSE as fast as you can, and get him (or her) to slam on the brakes. Do this 4 or 5 times, and this should bring the shoes into perfect alignment. DON"T DO THIS WITH THE DRUM OFF OF ANY OTHER WHEEL. You will pop the other wheel cylinders! Another other option is to find a large, empty parking lot, and backup, brake. Backup, brake, Backup, brake. You may get some funny looks, but it works!
Remember that it is braking while backing up that your automatic adjusters activate, so you need to back up at least once a day.

 

Good call John. The backing method is the correct way to go in every case when self adjusters are installed.
The best way to preset your shoes is to tighten the adjuster as you said until drag is felt (continued force to rotate the drum) back off the star wheel 35 teeth. Then drive in reverse (5mph) and apply the brakes firmly but do not slam them four or five times for perfect adjustment!

Another trick is to get in the habit of firmly appling the brakes EVERY time you back up, this will keep your brakes in adjustment.

 

 

I just purchased a 1956 F100 and I'm completely redoing the brakes. I read that you are supposed to back off the star nut until the wheel turns freely. Your method is totally different. Do I have the self adjusting brakes on my truck?

 

John's info is spot on. I usually leave the wheel on but basically follow his recommendation.

John

 

And to prove there are multi-colored zebras I am right in the middle. I adjust until the scraping sound is just continuous through the complete revolution of the wheel but it is not enough to stop the wheel after one revolution. The auto adjuster info is right on but be sure they don't get mixed up from side to side or they will auto loosen.