Parking break confusions

I just redid the rear brakes. Got some drag. Tires spin about 1 1/4 revolutions.

Parking brake -
When I make it so there’s no slack in the cable, I get around 4 clicks. Loosened it. Got 6. Then 4. I did not hear a star wheel adjust on either side, so I don’t know why it went from 6 to 4.

Other thing is the bellcranks barely pull back from the backing plates. They are in good shape. No rust or sticking, etc.

The equalizer moves freely

Does the fact that the bellcranks aren’t pulling back mean the shoes are actually overadjusted?

 

Figured I’d answer my own question -
Read this totally different way to set it in my Haynes. Think I’ll give that a whirl. & I do think the shoes are overadjusted.

 

If the brake shoes are "over-adjusted", they are prolly dragging on the drum. Try driving 5-10 miles, then get out and touch the rims. They should not be too hot to touch. If so, then back out the adjustment. When I adjust drum brakes I first loosen the parking brake, then I turn each wheel (with the tire mounted) and tighten the adjustment until I hear the shoe(s) touch the drum. After that I readjust the parking brake, making sure that the actuators at the backing plates are just beginning to move.

 

Hey Kris those Haynes manuals are OK but ones that look like this are the bomb. I have been restoring mine for 5 years now and I thumbed thru the Haynes at a parts store in the beginning and went with a 3 set of these and it's night and day, more expensive, but worth it. Paid for itself over and over. FWIW

 

I wrote, "Try driving 5-10 miles, then get out and touch the rims. They should not be too hot to touch. If so, then back out the adjustment."

I should have written, "If the rims are so hot that they can't be touched, back out the adjustment until they shoes no longer touch the drum."

Also, I should have written "tighten the adjustment until the shoe(s) just start to touch the drum".

 

In addition to the above... adjust the star adjuster then step on the brake pedal a couple of times to center the shoes in the drum and repeat.