Is there a trick to adjusting the rear brake shoes?

2003 V6 4X4 Automatic Transmission

Not sure why I'm struggling with such a simple process but I'm having the hardest time adjusting the brake shoe on the passenger side. I have new shoes installed and adjusted the star gear on the driver's side shoes to just barely skim the drums. I would say that there is about a 3/8" of threads showing on that star adjuster bar. This side feels good.

However, on the passenger side, even with the star gear bar completely retracted to it's smallest setting where it's not pressing against the shoes anymore, it feels like the drums barely fit back on. At any rate, I did get them back on but the truck "feels" different. I'm not sure if it was just in my head but the truck feels like it slows down faster when letting off the gas. I was afraid that the shoes were dragging too tight so I did a few test. I stopped on a very slight 3 degree upward incline and put the truck in neutral and it would roll back on it's own weight which is a good sign. On a level surface and in drive gear at a stop light, the truck would creep forward if I slowly release the brake pedal which is also a good sign. So I believe that this tells me that the brakes aren't dragging too much however the passenger side drum definitely feels hotter than the driver's side which does lead me to believe that the passenger side drum is dragging too much. The temperature was confirmed with a handheld IR reader.

How can I adjust it anymore since there is no more room to adjust the shoes smaller inside the drum?

Thanks in advance.

 

So the best way is to adjust it with the drum on. It's also the hardest.

The ebrake pivot is your guide to the adjustment.

You adjust it up until the ebrake only moves away from the drum backing plate about 2mm 5/64" It is not supposed to make contact, but movement is critical.

On new shoes they usually break in and require a second adjustment.



So when I'm adjusting 1st gen tacoma/3rd gen 4runner I'm tugging the ebrake line and rotating the drum. This sets the drag and gives me feed back.

Practice adjusting it from behind with the drum off then adjust it with drum on.

 

https://youtu.be/IJkVEBYSecs
https://youtu.be/vPiJHIMWvIA

 

I actually adjusted the emergency brakes according to the FSM and it works well...much better than how it was before. The problem here is that even when the e-brake has complete slack in the lines and not engaged at all, getting the drum back on what actually quite a tight fit.

 

Pictures are a great help

Did you reinstall the old drums or go with new?

Lip on the inner edge of the drum making it hard to install?

New adjusters or reused the old ones ?

The new shoes are seated correct on the backing plate . New Spring Kit??

Parking brake hooked up and working correct

Wrong Shoes or drum on the right side .

I install the shoes with the adjuster closed and then put on the drum and adjust the shoes I have been doing it that way for some time.

 

I won't be much help but I can offer my sympathy! I replaced my shoes two years ago, and for the life of me could not get the adjustment right. I tried at least a half dozen times. I would either have the shoes too far out and the drum would get really hot just driving around, or they would be too loose and the parking brake wouldn't hold on inclines. I took it to a chain brake shop, paid them $50 and it was worse than any of the adjustment attempts I had made. Vowed to never give them another dollar. I finally took it to some mechanics I trust and they got the adjustment correct in 30 minutes.

 

Just an update. It's good now. I actually made a mistake and hooked the cross spring wrong. It's very easy to do since there are random holes on the shoe backing that looks like it is supposed to hook there but it's actually not uses for anything.

 

psst. see the arm the cable is connected to? pull it down as far as it can go (no extra force needed). If it clicks, it's auto adjusting, keep pulling the bar down and letting it go back up until it stops auto adjusting. adjustment done.

I had a customer come in to my parts store some months back really annoyed at how his truck's pedal kept going to the ground after replacing all the brakes. and after several visits of parts and figuring things out, i went out to his truck and did this and heard the click. he never adjusted the brakes. i just kept pulling the lever down until it stopped cliking and told him to tell me how it was. fixed his situation right away. adjusted while assembled.

 

I have learned something New!!

I wondered if that was possible is it possible to over adjust with that method that you have to back them off to spin the wheel.

 

Yes. It is possible to over-adjust them via the e-brake method. It's a pain to back them off the right amount.

 

i will stick with my tried and true method adjust them up with the adjuster till the drum does not turn then back them off till the drag is where I want.

 

Me too. Just remember to push the brake pedal firmly a few times in the process to recenter the shoes as you go so you don't get a false feel of enough drag.

 

Technically yes. Or you can just leave them, drive your truck, and let them grind down just enough to be perfect. You shouldn't lose too much material this way. you'll most likely still end up changing them later on because theyre just old

 

This is just with new Brakes and everything but the backing plates are new.

The only time I have to ever adjust brakes is after pulling the drums to inspect the lining