How To Adjust Drum Brakes Without Taking Off The Wheel

[@SportsMusicCars]

1:53 is where I show the star adjuster getting adjusted by pushing down with your screwdriver. You can see & hear the adjustment clicks.

[@jimskenadore1791]

Can you go the opposite way for locked up breaks? Not sure if I'm even on the adjuster to loosen it. But back wheel's are locked up after sitting for for years.

[@SportsMusicCars]

@@jimskenadore1791 Yes. Opposite will bring the shoes inward, so less contact with the drums.

[@jamesbreazzano3119]

@@jimskenadore1791 you

[@jamesbreazzano3119]

@@SportsMusicCars mo

[@Papisartee]

@@SportsMusicCars how tight do you adjust

[@bcom9389]

Im a seasoned backyard mechanic. Was never good with back brakes. No one has ever shown me how to adjust drum brakes with counting the rotations! What a great idea! I cant believe ive never thought of this. 30 years of wrenching in the backyard and the only way i can learn is by taking it apart and putting back together myself. No one teaches me anything. However what you just shown me hear about counting the revolutions of the tire is awesome advice. I cant believe ive never thought of this on my own. Perhaps its old age🤷‍♂️. Anyway,thumbs up for you👍

[@kevinmd77]

I don’t comment much on videos anymore but this one was much appreciated! Ty and keep em coming!

[@marissasmusic1074]

Did this 3m ago and so far, so good! Thanks!

[@ginat7816]

Best video on how to do this. Thanks.

[@travismarshall7897]

When I do breaks on my truck I back up fast and slam on the breaks. That normally sets my adjuster.

[@AdmiralRustyShackleford]

That works when you've rebuilt the brakes. If they're old and wearing down, this should help until you rebuild them. I've got an old Grand Caravan and the parking brake is loose, so I'm going to try this. The rears aren't making any noise yet so this should work for a while, until they start to make noise and I'll replace them.

[@murdermittenman]

So do you go up clicks on passenger side and then down clicks for dtiver side to tighten?

[@SportsMusicCars]

same way both sides, at least on the GMs I work on.

[@malljip3420]

Towards the center of wheel to tighten and it will click. Towards the outside or tire and it loosens, no clicks

[@mrsemifixit]

Do you spin the adjuster the same way for all cars with drums?

[@SportsMusicCars]

As far as I know, down is tight, up is loose, but I mostly work on American cars, so it's possible engineers from other parts of the world have a different setup.

[@whez08]

OK, if there is resistance when you turn the wheel by hand, that means there is constant friction which the engine has to overcome and which wears out the brake shoes. Is that practical? I have changed my drum brakes but didn't leave them so tight.

[@SportsMusicCars]

Good points. Some resistance is okay and normal. about 1.5 turns of the wheel is usually good. With a front disc / rear drum system, the pedal feel comes from the rear, so if the wheel spins too freely, like forever, then the pedal response will be slower. There is always some friction, even with a disc setup.

[@thomasfieldhouse36]

is this with or without hand break on

[@fitness4life67]

without

[@garrettprosser7336]

i installed new drum brakes on my civic and the e brake was loose so i tightened it and it still takes a million clicks to get the e brake to full upright position so i tightened the drums more and the e brake and the wheels have a fair bit of resistance when i spin in the air like when i use my force it will rotate maybe 3 times and then stop. this much resistance is too much from what ive researched but it still barely stops the car with the e brake while going over 20mph. it will hold the car still on a slop and i can stop fine but the e brake is just looser than it was before and the rear brakes feel soft. ive bleed the system 2 times now but after doing so i read in the manual my cars bleeding procedure is backwards it says in the manual do FR, FL, RR, RL which may be the cause of the soft rear brakes but does explain why the e brake is weak when the drums are very much adjusted tightly i dont wanna tighten them anymore. if anyone has had issues like this with getting the e brake set right after putting new drums on id greatly appreciate it.

[@garrettprosser7336]

I solved the issue btw by tightening the adjuster on the drums, they needed to be way tighter than what the videos say. It actually had so much resistence i had to use my force to spice the wheel and i measured each wheel shoe to shoe to get them even so the e brake was pulling evenly and worked perfect for anyone struggling 😅

[@Mrdogedog]

ITS NOT AN E BRAKE. ITS A PARKING BRAKE😡

[@garrettprosser7336]

@@Mrdogedog you rlly gon argue over semantics when i fixed it blew that car up got a new one and blew it up too 😤

[@Mrdogedog]

@garrettprosser7336 it's not semantics. You don't pull the parking brake for an emergency stop until the vehicle is already stopped , moved out of traffic, and put in park. Also, I wouldn't be so proud of blowing up 2 cars. It makes your skills as a mechanic and a person in general look less than stellar.

[@garrettprosser7336]

@@Mrdogedog i blew them up pushing them to the limit. I am by no means a mechanic i just figure shit out. I wssnt bragging i was explaining how useless that is cause how much time has passed but woosh.

[@shack6111]

Why wouldn't the 'Self Adjuster Arm' be doing this automatically?

[@SportsMusicCars]

Because they get old, rusted, stuck and don't function properly over time. They generally work well for a few years, before the elements take over.

[@talesofthemacabre4752]

interesting and informative.

[@HoodRichRob]

Thanks!

[@ednja]

When you adjusted the brakes in this video were the brakes applied at all?

[@SportsMusicCars]

yes. i backed up, pulled the parking brake and also hit the brakes while going backwards. Helps to center things and made sure the adjustment stays properly.

[@ViaGoldenGate]

Do you need to do both wheels or just one?

[@SportsMusicCars]

Do both, then pull the parking brake to center the drums afterwards. If one wheel brakes before the other, you might notice the car pulling one way or the other under braking.

[@marklawson3865]

Wow u answered all my questions 😅

[@sleetskate]

you had jack stands..... right?

[@SportsMusicCars]

Of course. One jack & two 2-ton stands.

[@kennethsimonette6835]

Great vid got some insight , did you put in neatral when doing , cause if not the wheel wont spin , so i took off each tire and cleaned the drums and just kinda did what you did, but all the videos or most vid dont mention anything about putting in ne neatraul, when u did this this vid, was ur truck in neatral?

[@jonshort6709]

HHRs are front wheel drive. The rear wheels just spin unless the parking brake is applied. No need to put car in neutral.

[@kennethsimonette6835]

@@jonshort6709 my chevy truck is rear wheel drive tho,

[@ollysfishing4231]

​@@kennethsimonette6835 common sense will tell you

[@kennethsimonette6835]

​@@ollysfishing4231F. Ur common sense, indight moron

[@JakeNaughtFromStateFarm]

Where you had it is good. I’ve always been told you want about one rotation when you spin it. After that, drive it and slam the brakes a couple of times to get them self adjusted. That’s how I was taught at least. Bringing them out isn’t too bad, but if you get them too tight, it can be a mother f@#$%* to loosen them because you have to bring them latch down to turn it up. I’ve never been very good at that lol.

[@daneneedoba8930]

Did a adjustment on a family members vehicle and the abs light turned one for both rear wheel speed sensors. Unfortunately the LR adjuster got stuck before backing it down so it had more resistance than I would have liked.

[@mikefulton9682]

Ive done quite few rear brake jobs on family members cars, and for the ones with rear drums I usually end up taking the rear wheels and drums back off and adjusting the adjusters from the front side, if the self-adjusters dont work (even with a good cleanup sometimes they dont...)

[@DVEX1000]

Is that in park or neutral?

[@SportsMusicCars]

The rear wheels spin, no matter what, as it's fwd. I have the car in park so it doesn't move on me, of course.

[@DVEX1000]

@SportsMusicCars I'm turning 53 next Sunday and I just did the rear brakes for the first time this week, but the pedal is still a little soft. I figured it might be because I didn't mess with the adjustment key.

[@saltymahero9898]

Ideal .good job .

[@arthurl.9985]

I to 1 1/2 around is good.

[@SportsMusicCars]

Exactly. There will always be some drag on all brakes, drums & discs. Surfaces will touch ever so slightly. If the wheel spins 10x, I can guarantee your braking is not as good as it should be.

[@mountainwings]

Great!

[@johnpalma7265]

You did a good job in my opinion but i would recomend removing the drum, the shoes wear the drum out but leave a ridge and or lip on the edge of the drum that will make it dificult to remove the drum should one need to gain acces , because of the way drum breaks are assembl;ed it is sometimes very dificult to reduce the shoes, or bring them closer together in other words, due to the adjusting tab contacting the star wheel, it's alot easier to expand the shoes out than to contract them. The ridge/lip should probably be ground down or chiseled off. Thanks

[@ollysfishing4231]

Usually theres threads on the drums of a screw with the drum that you use to jack the drums out

[@chadpugh1490]

​@ollysfishing4231 not lucky enough for that here. Fighting with a drum as we speak. Not seized or rusted. But the shoes and all hardware is trying to come off with the drum.

[@willguertin9882]

i guess you do the same thing to the other wheel afterwards?

[@SportsMusicCars]

Of course always check both sides.

[@scottschmittmusic]

Cool thanks

[@SportsMusicCars]

Please check out my other DIY car repair videos & subscribe!!

[@bobathefact2305]

Nice people

[@musicsports6891]

ok