Drum Brake Question (1 Viewer)

[nspctr1]

If your drum brakes need adjusting, Do you back all the cylinders off and start from scratch? I adjusted my fronts and they weren't worn evenly but I adjusted them evenly and now I have a hard pull to the right. Not sure what the correct procedure is. If you adjust evenly and you have more wear on one side it will pull but then again, not all brakes wear evenly accross the board so, What the hell do I do??

Thanks
Kevin

 

[spdwaver]

What is the current condition of your shoes?

 

[nspctr1]

The shoes and all hardware is in good shape..just needs adjuting..

 

[projektdotnet]

get the vehicle off the ground and spin a wheel...if it drags JUST BARELY (you can hear it but it doesnt affect the speed of the tire) then you're there. Repeat as needed untill pull is gone...oh and mine still pulls hard right too i need to go fix that

 

[gladly]

get the vehicle off the ground and spin a wheel...if it drags JUST BARELY (you can hear it but it doesnt affect the speed of the tire) then you're there. Repeat as needed untill pull is gone...oh and mine still pulls hard right too i need to go fix that

just wanted to add to this , you want to adjust each shoe until it just drags, not both shoes by an even amount until the first one drags. sorry if you got that, but I thought that that is what the original question might have been

Do you back all the cylinders off and start from scratch? I adjusted my fronts and they weren't worn evenly but I adjusted them evenly

also (FWIW) mine was pulling hard to one side too, I couldn't find a cause eventually I swapped the brake shoes side to side (someone mentioned it might help) and it stopped. I don't know if it was the right thing to do, but it worked, and they are all grabbing evenly and the pull is gone.
HTH

 

[mdjohnsen]

Mine pulls to the left....I have new cylinders, drums machined, and new shoes. Could it be the axle wrap I have?

 

[projektdotnet]

thanks gladly i forgot that

 

[rgentry]

http://www.rzeppa.org/tech/brakes.htm

 

[nspctr1]

Yeah, I've been bugging Jeff on the brake issue already. I'll try the adjusting each shoe until it rubs slightly procedure. I hate drum brakes......

 

[gdtrfb]

I get both shoes close to the drum then stomp on the brakes to center the shoes then readjust, stomp again and check, I also run the shoes down tight to the drum then back them off till the wheel turns freely. this works well with no draging, works l for old aircooled VW bus's and bugs too heh heh heh

 

[rgentry]

With new shoes and freshly turned drums I let the shoes rub a little against the drums. I drive around town mostly and in a few days the rub is gone; then I run the shoes out a turn or so to get right back to the least bit of noise (rub). My brakes are always tight.

In the old days you could take your brake shoes into the shop and they would machine the shoes to exactly match the diameter of your newly turned drums. I don't believe that anyone does this anymore. As a result, the initial contact patch between the shoe and drum is not the full length of the shoe. As the shoes wear in you get a larger contact patch and better braking.

 

[gladly]

http://www.globalsoftware-inc.com/coolerman/fj40/15C.htm
http://www.globalsoftware-inc.com/coolerman/fj40/main.htm
mark (coolerman) bakers site, about halfway down on the first link is the brake bleeding/adjusting procedure, the other is his main page. great resource, bookmark it for future projects, he's had to deal with every kind of abuse, neglect and PO difficulty, and written it up for the rest of us! mark!

 

[Coolerman]

[QUOTE/ he's had to deal with every kind of abuse, neglect and PO difficulty [/QUOTE]

You got that right! Funny thing, one of the three PO's was my own brother! At least he tried to maintain it mechanically. Though he did manage to get the brake wheel cylinders reversed side to side...

Thanks for the support. Without all the help from this site and the TLCA list I would never have become addicted to, I mean never been exposed, oh hell you know what I mean!

 

[gladly]

I'm just still waiting to see you lose the "not road legal" from your sig line!
great site

 

[mhdsummers]

http://www.rzeppa.org/tech/brakes.htm

X2
Have someone hit the brakes with the tire and drum off to make sure your cylinders are working correctly.

Good luck and keep off the highways until you fix your problem.

 

[gdtrfb]

X2
Have someone hit the brakes with the tire and drum off to make sure your cylinders are working correctly.

Good luck and keep off the highways until you fix your problem.

wont that explode the wheel cyl? or does toyota have an auto stop?

 

[rgentry]

Tire OFF. Drum ON, repeat drum ON. Good call GDTRFB!

 

[gdtrfb]

Tire OFF. Drum ON, repeat drum ON. Good call GDTRFB!

thanks,
wisdom is only recognizing a mistake before you make it again

 

[nspctr1]

OK, so I spent the better part of the day adjusting the front brakes only, IIRC, you adjust your shoes as far out as possible with the drum off, slide on the drum and then adjust it until you hear the drum drag a little. SO, do you adjust both cylinders all the way into the drum and then back them off about 2 clicks? I did that until I felt a little drag but, when I put the wheel on I could hardly turn the damned thing? wussup with that. I do have to admit tho, it does stop alot better. I'll do the rears tomorrow, damned thing should stop on a dime then.... ha

 

[rgentry]

When you position the shoes on the wheel cylinders with the drum off, they are free to move to the left and the right a fair amount. Therefore, the shoe's "center of the circle" is not the same as the center of the circle defined by the drum. Once you get the drum on, you need to pump the brakes a bunch, and spin the wheels as well, to get the shoes re-centered. Then you can adjust.

I would get both the shoes close to the drum but to a point where I could not hear any rubbing. I would then expand one adjuster until the that shoe is tight to the drum and the wheel barely turns. Then I would back that adjuster off just until you hear nothing. Then run the other one all the way until the wheel is tight and back it off until you hear nothing. Now you know that both wheel cylinders and both shoes are close to the drum but not rubbing.

I usually then tighten up just a bit until they are slightly rubbing (especially with new shoes which are not conforming to the drum). I do this with the drum on (obviously) and the tire and wheel on so I can easily detect how much drag there is when I spin the tire.

With slight rubbing all the way around, I have good brakes. If I am on a seemingly level surface; and take my foot of the brakes, my cruiser tends to move forward or backward. This to me indicates that the slight rubbing of the shoes on the drums is not causing much friction. Also, I check my backing plates after an adjustment to make sure that they are running cool. If they get hot, you've got too much drag.

BTW, if you don't have the OEM brake adjusting tool, get one. It beats the pants off using a screwdriver.