Thread: Rear Drum Brake Adjustment

You don't have oversize brake shoes for oversize drums and trying to fit them into standard size drums, do you? Regards Frank.

ok so got an opportunity this morning to have another look at this.

I looked at the rear drivers side which is rubbing the most. The drum has a score along it from the pads that looks well centred, not close to any edges so they are contacting where they should be on the drum.

The shoes are rubbing at the top edges, the leading shoe looks to be the one that is causing the problem.

Looking at how the top tabs on the shoes sit into the grooves in the cylinder the leading shoe appears to sit higher in the groove. So I tried to see if I could move the shoe to sit lower but there is nowhere for it to budge, loosening the retainer at the bottom pivot point and bashing the shoe downwards with a hammer confirmed that there is no adjustment to be made there.

It is possible that the cylinder was put in slightly skew and thats why the leading shoe is sitting higher in the groove, so I moved on looking for something else.

I noticed that the leading piston on the cylinder can be pushed further in and probably would be if the shoe was not stopped by the snail adjuster. So question, is it possible to remove the snail adjuster and if so is it wise?

Without the snail adjuster the spring should pull the shoes in closer.. i suppose if I can take the snail off and put it back on in future this may be the way to go?

Originally Posted by Tank

You don't have oversize brake shoes for oversize drums and trying to fit them into standard size drums, do you? Regards Frank.

The shoes I ordered were for a 90 and I beleive they are correct as only the leading shoes have pins for snail adjustment. So I'm 99% sure I have the correct shoes.

Couple of gloomy garage pictures:

Some time later I know...

All the parts were correct and properly installed/adjusted. The problem was the new aftermarket shoe/drum/cylinder combo were just slightly out of harmony. All sorted after I took the drum and shoes to a brake place to be radius'd or whatever they call it. $20 for the job, and now they all fit together nicely and rotate freely!