Thread: Chevy 10 bolt brake self adjuster questions

Tweet

I have a 10 bolt rear with stock drum brakes. I currently do not have an E brake and I removed the cables because they were shot. I noticed that my self adjuster finger does not touch the star wheel on both left and right .... my questions are:
Is this because the E Brake cables are removed, will this allow the star wheel to back off and loosen the shoe adjustment, or is this something not to worry about?

If it's together correctly having a pb cable removed shouldn't make any difference. The self-adjuster arm shuld be in contact with ths starwheel. Hank

That's what I thought too.... the arm is held up with a spring between the shoe and the arm, I don't know how it could be wrong unless it has wrong parts but it is definately above the star gear. Anything is possible, a 10 bolt Chevy rear on a '53 Ford truck, modified from coils to leaf springs.... typical hot rod hodge podge...

Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to get new cables and go over the brakes. you kinda need a parking brake to be street legal most anywhere. Maybe somebody on here can give you a photo of how things look. Hank

I removed the emergency brake from the S10 10 bolt in my T, and it works fine that way, so something must be modified or some parts mixed in yours. I have another same rear under my Dodge truck, and the wheels are off, so if you would like me to pull a drum and shoot a picture today, I would be happy to do that.

They are a little tricky to assemble. I took mine apart and 6 months later when I went to put it back together with new parts I couldn't remember how it went. Luckily, I had the second unassembled rear end sitting under the Dodge for reference.

Let me know if you need a picture or two.

Don

I removed everything again and painted my backplate. I then went out and bought a brake spring replacement kit, little did I know that the kit didn't include some key parts like the arms and a few of the springs. I think what I need is a self adjuster rebuild kit????

I looked real close at everything and I'm sure that it's back together correctly but my adjuster arm still doesn't touch the star wheel. If I cock it just a bit it will touch. If the jay-hook looking arm was 1/8" shorter it would touch. Again I'm just afraid that teh shoe can un-adjust if teh arm isn't touching.