Thread: Drum brake adjustment

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I have just rebuilt the wheel cylinders on my '65 New Yorker. (drums front and rear) How snug should the shoes be against the drums for proper adjustment? Or rather how far should I turn the adjustment wheel? How much play is there supposed to be? I think I just asked the same thing three times, but it still doesn't sound right.......... Maybe I should have said "What is the procedure for adjusting drum brakes??" BTW: these do not have the self adjusters.

just a light drag is all you want, if your pedal dosn't feel right, just tighen them up little by little, but still rotating to feel the drag, and see if that helps the pedal, because a good brake pedal has everything to with a good brake shoe adjustment.

Originally Posted by Matt167

just a light drag is all you want, if your pedal dosn't feel right, just tighen them up little by little, but still rotating to feel the drag, and see if that helps the pedal, because a good brake pedal has everything to with a good brake shoe adjustment.

Actually that is what led me to this question. I started bleeding the brakes, but I couldn't ever get a good pedal. That made me believe that I didn't have the shoes adjusted out enough.

The way that I was taught (quite a few years ago) was to adjust hte brakes until the wheel locked. (this would center the brake shoes) then back off on the adjusters until there was a slight drag.

I

I got something right????? YIPPEE!!!!!!

I guess I will go ask the Mrs to bake me a cookie now. LMAO

Hey, thanks for the quick replies!! Good luck with the cookie!

could we carry this thread a little farther? ie
proper adjustment from the pedal into the booster
should the rod from the pedal be perfectly straight into the back of the booster ?
proper adjustment from the booster into the master cyl
proper master cyl bleed
proper way to bleed a drum disc combination when installing new rear brake cyls and new front calipers
my case is a GM 1 ton chassis (80`s) with a 53 Ford cab
any advice you guys can give would be most appreciated,thanks in advance
brian

As you adjust each wheel, push the pedal hard to center everything up. This assures proper alignment.
Every '65 Mopar I ever saw had self adjusters. ????

do you guys ever sleep??

Originally Posted by R Pope

As you adjust each wheel, push the pedal hard to center everything up. This assures proper alignment.
Every '65 Mopar I ever saw had self adjusters. ????

This one may have had self adjusters at one time. Who knows what has happened in the last 40+ years.

Just a quick one - when did the MoPars finally go to the Bendix self energizing brakes? They had the pivot pin Lockheed brakes for what seems like a milennia and these had cam type adjusters (and some had dual wheel cylinders as well)

My apologies if this confuses the issue (and is a hijack)

Originally Posted by DennyW

That's kind of a tough one. They went through changes, and at early stages were over advanced. Early stages was in the early 1900's. I believe the 50's was when the application really took hold.

Instead of asking a dumb question (dumb, because I found the answer in my tattered and worn 1963 Motors Manual #26 ) I looked it up. Some models, mostly the smaller ones, went to Bendix type brakes in 1962 and the rest, including the land boats, 1963.

Next time I do something like this, Denny, admonish me severly

Lots of good history there with brakes - looks like the automotive air brake was an adaptation of the train air brake system designed by George Westinghouse. Now. some minutia, Westinghouse was from Schenectady, NY and who's house is now a very large funeral home operation in a semi-seedy part of town. And to make it even more interesting, Thomas Edison incorporated General Electric in Schenectady as well, and only about .75 of a mile from Westinghouse. You can thank ol' George for AC electricity as well - Tom Edison preferred DC with it's massive transmission losses.

Originally Posted by 65ny

do you guys ever sleep??

Only when I am at work. LOL