markjs Posted July 31, 2005 Share Posted July 31, 2005 I have an '84 GL wagon and I just did brake shoes and pads. I have the style with the square adjuster stud on the inboard side of the drum and I also wonder if they adjust automatically? The Haynes manual says next to nothing about the subject?!? In my experience Chilton is a worse manual so I don't even bother with them, but I notice the Haynes is vague in many areas. This has not been my experience with American cars. Anyway the brakes seem to work but the only adjustment I did was to back it off enough to get the drum back on the axle. PS the way the axle and wheel bearings are greased and exposed is LAME rump roast!!! I could not avoid getting a touch of grease on my shoes. I am glad most braking power is front brakes, and I hope the shoes are not wholly ineffective due to my sloppiness. It seems impossible to change the shoes cleanly without cleaning and regreasing though and I just didnt have the time patience or money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hondasucks Posted July 31, 2005 Share Posted July 31, 2005 Jack up the rear of the car so both rear wheels are off the ground and set it on jack stands. Spin the wheel, and then turn the adjuster screw in one quarter turn (just turn it like it's a screw you are tightening) and spin the wheel again. Repeat this until the wheel locks solid (Make sure you turn it the full quarter turn, the adjuster has detents in it, and you have to be in the detent for it to hold the adjustment, you won't feel them until you start getting it tighter though, but when you start to get it tight it will lock the wheel, but then it won't lock once it gets into the detent, you want it to lock when it's in the detent). Once the wheel locks, turn the adjuster BACK two clicks, or one half turn. Repeat on the other side, and it's adjusted. To turn the adjuster you can either use a small adjustable wrench, or you can get a 1/4" square socket from Sears. I've also used a 1/4" drive socket with the appropriate size allen wrench in the bolt side of the socket. Also, when you did the rear brakes, did you lubricate the flat spots where the brake shoes ride on the backing plate? If not, take it apart and use some Siliglide or other silicone lubricant on the flat spots on the backing plate, after you clean all the old grease and brake dust off with some brake cleaner. (It will be apparent where to grease once you clean it off since 99% of the time the paint is worn off in these spots) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjs Posted July 31, 2005 Author Share Posted July 31, 2005 Well it didn't work quite that way. The left side tightened to where the wheel and adjuster screw locked tight simultaneously, and so I backed it off one half turn. The right however kept turning and turning and turning until finally the adjuster screw locked tight. Long before that point the wheel would be partially braked through half of its rotation and free through half. At the point the adjuster screw was tight the wheel was still only braked through half of a rotation. So I backed it off 1/2 turn (two detents) and left it at that. The brake holds tight when the pedal is depressed and the brakes feel ok (excepting the "brake feel issue" topic I started). So I guesss I am going to leave it at that unless someone knows specifically why the right side would act this way, and what I should do to fix it. P.S. I hate it, but for some reason things always seem to go this way for me on cars. The book and the experts say if you do, a., b., and c., you will find that such and such is as so, and when I follow procedure I find such and such is rarely rarely so. For example when I timed the ignition on my Chevy Citation (two cars ago), the spec was like 8 BTDC or somesuch and I found it ran like crap until I timed it to 20 BTDC. This is on a car with timing gears not a chain so slop is impossible. This same type of occurance happens to me all the time....I must be cursed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjs Posted August 1, 2005 Author Share Posted August 1, 2005 Bump! I really would like to know if anyone has any clue on this one?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
555Ron Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 Hi, if you send me a PM with your email address, i will email you the three pages going over the drums to you. I have a Gregorys manual, which i think is twice as good as the Haynes... but its an Australian book. The FSM is worth its weight in gold, but i don't have one. If you don't PM me, i will forget. It's too late to think at the moment. Hopefully this might fix your problem... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjs Posted August 1, 2005 Author Share Posted August 1, 2005 markjs11569@cablespeed.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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