Let brake pad wear in???

[Bill McC]

Hello,

I adjusted my brakes today. Actually the driver's side was good (slight drag) while the passenger front wheel spun with no drag. After much banging that drum came off (there was no adjusting the cylinders via the tiny ports) and with the aid of a 14-16" pair of Channel Lock pliers I was able to wiggle the adjusting rings left and right. One cylinder was adjusted fully "short" while the other was out a bit. I figured that since I could only move the adjusters with the drum off that I should adjust them snug. So I did.

I reassembled the wheel to the hub and I could move the wheel/tire around with some effort. On the upside my brakes went from the ol' two step to requiring only about an inch of travel. Down side, after a half mile or so there is smoke. Do I need to adjust the brakes back a bit or will this cease? I did have to thump on the drum for the last 1/4" or so.:whoops:??

Thanks for the input.

 

[Pin_Head]

You want to back off the adjusters by about 1 click. You should be able to use the slots in the backing plate and an adjuster tool. You should be able to spin the tire about 1 complete revolution with a hard pull when they are properly adjusted.

 

[Bill McC]

Thanks. I rechecked the brakes and they are very tight so off to adjustment. Thankfully the one cylinder that turns without aid of a wrench is the one which is adjusted a bit more than the other so I will also be evening things out a bit.

 

[Living in the Past]

To get the brakes right your going to replace or rebuild the wheel cylinders. Both sides have to adjusted with the drum on for the brakes to work right. I played around with my brakes for years before I finally broke down and replaced all the shoes and rebuild the wheel cylinders. I couldn't believe how good the brakes worked after adjusting. Or than the brake shoes getting wet and not gripping I see no reason for disk brakes on a stock early cruiser. I'm not talking big tires and V8s.

 

[Bill McC]

For the present I will try to adjust the brakes from the slot and see how it goes.