Here's a head scratcher for me, anyone got a theory?

Again and again I've heard people say that to get you rear drums to adjust you should back down a hill and work the parking break or something. I kept saying to myself that it's BS that backing down a hill helps, couldn't see any reason why it would work any better then going forward, but can see how using the parking break can help.

Anyway lately I've noticed that my parking break and pedal was low and tonite I found myself alone on a nice hill so I gave it a try and what do ya know it helped. So anyone got any idea why going backwords down a hill helps, or am I imagining it?

 

I have heard of backing up and applying the brakes sharply, which makes the rear drum brakes self adjuster work. But, sometimes you have to do it a whole lot to get them adjusted correctly.

 

Watch doing that, the self adjuster strap can come right off it's cable guide if you do it too hard, too many times. The best thing to do is just jack it up and tighten them up till there is just a slight drag, pump the pedal and recheck.

 

Since I was a kid I was always told that the self-adjusters only work in reverse (not necessarily on a hill). Why reverse? I don't know.

As I've aged, I've come to the realization that the self-adjusting mechanism is like lipstick on a pig...pretty to look at, but not very effective. So I'm with mark a. on this one...when my brake pedal is feeling a little low, I adjust the rear brakes by hand. A brake spoon is a great tool for this, but you can get by with a long screwdriver.

Pat

 

It basically works like this. As the brake lining wears, a gap is created between the shoe and drum. When you apply the brakes when you back up, the shoes rotate in the opposite direction. The secondary (rear) shoe pulls away from the anchor pin at the top and reaches out to contact the drum pulling on the cable, lifting the lever and rotating the self adjuster.

This all sounds good in theory, but in reality, I still give my adjusters a click or two every time I change the oil, which does help with pedal feel and braking.

 

Self adjusters rarely work in my experience. I've got a freind who swears backing up and stopping hard works. He was doing that with his Bravada a while back and said the pedal was a lot better, but when I went to replace the shoes both adjusters were seized. I dont know if its his imagination or something else causing the pedal to firm up.

 

per my geo's manual it states backup and brake firmly. I havent read the F350's manual about it as i assume its the same.

it assume 50/50 on whether it works well or not. alot to do with condition of materials as well.. ie rusted up parts dont move well, it could also matter how far you adjusted to get the drums off in the first place and whether you put new pads on.