duck

I just put a new right axle in my car. After putting the brakes together I went to adjust them. WTF, no adjusters on the back where Haynes says they should be, just caps (i think they are steel). The caps did not want to be removed.

So I bled the brakes, but the pedal is still very soft. I figure I need to adjust and re-bleed.

So how do I adjust the shoes? (I don't know what year the axles are from as they are not original.)

Thanks

Barwick

go buy yourself a disc brake rear end, that'll solve the problem. Sorry, I know nothing about drums.

RXcetera

Alrighty , luckily you've found yourself a drum brake master here . BTW, dont beleive what people say about drums... you'd be amazed how well these things can work when adjusted properly. Stopping distances are shorter than with disk but fade can be a problem with cheap pads. Honestly though, with hawks in front and good shoes in the back, I've never experienced fade on the street... and I've been known to brake hard.

Start with the right rear. Forget getting to the adjusters from the backing plate, that's useless. To do this properly, pull the drum off and use a flat head screwdriver to get to the adjustement screw/nut. Turn the toothed nut one turn and put the drum back on. Pump the brake a couple times and check the clearance between the shoes and the drum by rotating it. It should turn with moderate effort. If it spins freely it's too loose... if it wont budge, it's too tight. Keep doing this until your satisfied with the results.

After you're done both wheels, go for a drive. The pedal will probably be "longer" and it will probably get a little worse. Now, this is where you cheat. After the shoes have seated (a couple hard stops), head for the actual brake pedal and remove some of that end play by inserting the rod SLIGHTLY more into the piston. It's a good idea to have the rear end of the car (or at least one wheel) off the ground so you can test what you're doing. By very carefull when turning that rod...a little adjustment goes a long way. Once you're done go for another drive and make sure your car still rolls freely when on a slight incline. You should be able to acheive pretty good pedal feel with this method, but dont go too far. Making your pedal rock hard will lead to trouble.

I do this adjustment 2 times a year. Just remember to slack off the piston rod before readjusting the drums. There are other ways of adjusting your drums, including using the "auto-adjusters" that never work, but I find this has worked better than any other method I've tried.

Good luck!

Pittdp

What about the old way of going in reverse and hiting the brake? I thought that was supposed to work for light adjustment