Looked under the truck, want to adjust my rear brakes. I dont' even think they're being used right now. There are 4 rubber plugs on the back of the hub, don't know which one(s) is used to adjust. Can someone kinda give me the ins and outs of adjusting them? I could always pull the hub off and look at it, but don't want to if I don't need to. Thanks!

 

The only way to get them adjusted properly is to pull the drum. Other than that, you will have no idea how much or at all of they are dragging. The way to do it is to pull the drum, turn the star wheel to open up the shoes and put the drum back on. You want it to when you slide the drum on, it will SLIGHTLY drag on the shoes. Too tight is not a good thing because it will then be very easy to lock up the rears. If you can't get them to where you feel like the rears are doing anything, research the Chevy rear cylinder mod. You'll find plenty of info and part numbers on this board.

 

Thanks. I'll have to get into that tomorrow. I upgraded my brake cylinders, but I guess they've gone out of adjustment cause I don't feel the back brakes working much at all anymore. Wish you could just adjust them with a tool, without removing the wheels, but oh well. Thanks for the info.

 

I have found that by driving for a few miles at 50-60 MPH and touching the drums with your fingers you can determin if the adjustment is too tight as the shoes will drag on the drum heating them up quickly. The will be warm when they are working properly. It take a few tries, but you'll soon figure it out.

 

Pull the two highest plugs on the backing plate, and the rearmost plug on the bottom. Get a flashlight and a flat screwdriver. The two higher holes you un plugged allow you to see the drums and the shoes, and the lower plug has the star wheel. To tighten up the shoes, rotate the star wheel up (the left side has a right hand thread, the right side has a left hand thread). I just adjusted mine till the shoes were very close to the drum. I engaged and disengaged the parking brake a couple times (as thats what I was initally adjusting for) and it centers up the shoes, and then readjust until satisfied.

My truck has a limited slip, so rotating the tires to tell if the brakes are dragging is difficult, as there is a lot of drag from turning both axles, the driveshafts, and internals of the transmission. And pulling an axle shaft to spin them freely means taking all my lug nuts off, to remove the center cap, and I'm just too lazy for that. It may not be the 'correct' way, but it works just fine now.

 

You could always do it like the manual says, just back up and jam on the brakes, repeat if necessary.

 

Thanks Tate. I'd like it very much if I could get them adjusted like that vs. pulling the hubs, but we'll see. My truck can get a bad attitude fast, and can fight to the death over the littlest dumbest things. Knowing that, I'll probably have to buy a whole new rear axle tomorrow. I'm gonna go give it a try.

 

That's what the book says, but the self adjusters rarely work properly. Infidel says back up and use the E-brake, but I have not tried that one yet, and I'm not sure how you would tell if it is working.

 

So just back up and stomp the brakes a few times? No problem. I'll try that and the parking brake method, then the screw driver method. Here's how the day will go if those don't work. (The truck and I have a love-hate relationship at times)

By then I'll be dirty and sweaty and mad, and I'll pull the hubs and fiddle with the shoes, then pinch my hands and drop the hub on myself, maybe crack it. Maybe it'll roll out in the street. Then I'll be peeved and kick something with force, like the tire conveniently laying right there, or the center cap full of lug nuts, and jam or break my toe. Then I'll limp back inside and drink beer and cuss about the truck. Then it will get dark, and there will be air hoses, extension cords, tools, tires, and debris scattered in a perfect arc around the rear of the truck, which is still on its jack stands. Then it will start to rain, and I'll have to run outside bare footed and with no shirt on, and just start kicking tools under the truck. Step in a pile of dog crap. And some holly leaves. Then we'll get a fire call, and I'll be pacing in circles cause I can't go and the SOB is still on jackstands. Then my wife will come home and have to park in the street, which can lead to a somewhat unpleasant evening, depending on her day at work.

Gonna go give it a try! At least it doesn't involve finding and disconnecting the MAP sensor, which nearly led to bloodshed.

 

Welp. I'm now officially a professional brake adjuster. It's all about having the right attitude. The truck, that is. I got me a backwoods cigar, and in my best Clint Eastwood/Fistfull of Dollars impression, I leaned on my trailer and just stared at the truck for a couple minutes. It stared back with its beady little headlights. Then I shifted the cigar around, spat on the ground, and asked it if it felt lucky. Then I told it calmly but firmly that it was getting an adjustment, and we could either do it nice or mean. And I was prepared to get plumb mad dog mean. That seemed to do the trick. I could see the truck thinking about it for a minute, and then it just cooperated. I jacked it up, pulled the wheels, spun the drums right off, adjusted the star wheels (9 good adjustments each!) and put the drums & tires back on. Pulled out in the street, told the truck how good it had been, and it promptly threw me through the windshield.

Stops a lot better now. Thanks for your help everyone. I think if you just give it a few turns with the screwdriver every couple thousand miles, like Tate mentioned, that would do the trick. One of the toughest parts of the whole project was just putting the little rubber plugs back in the hub.

 

You're an optimist, aren't you?

Next time you have to work on the truck, take a baby sledge hammer with you. Tell it you'll wreck every panel on it if it doesn't cooperate. Smash out a taillight to prove you are serious.

 

Intimidation does work. I had a display of sledge hammers, cutting torches, shotguns, and a backhoe, to emphasize my point.

Nah, it wasn't bad at all. I've had a couple seemingly easy projects just dissolve into nightmares, where everything breaks or goes wrong, you have one wrong part, its Sunday and you can't get what you need, etc. Most people have that happen sooner or later though. I had just pulled the drums back in March or April, so they came right off, and thanks to DTR I could use the spin off trick, where you put it in drive and hit the brakes a couple times to break them loose. I appreciate your help yesterday, everything went well. I even cleaned out the truck, detailed the interior, with leather cleaner even, and gave it a bath. Then it rained last night, but oh well. Got about a pound of dirt and a bushel of black lab hair out of the carpet.

 

A little spit works good.