Drum brakes

[KidVermicious]

Don't laugh, but I've never done drum brakes before. Never will again, at this rate. What's your trick for getting that really stiff spring set up between the shoes? I can get the spring in, or I can get the adjuster in, but I can't do the spring with the adjuster in place and I can't get the adjuster in once the spring is there.

Tips?

 

[nevada]

the adjuster is on the bottom, right?

put the spring on without the adjuster first.
then slide one side of the adjuster in place, and holding the shoe, and the adjuster with one hand and pry the shoes apart, and slide the adjuster in place.
i usually slide the adjust in behind the shoe, and then postion one in place. it seems to work easier that way.
its easier to do than to type out.

does that make sense?


may take a few tries to get everything positioned correctly.

 

[nevada]

oh, also you may have already figured this but, but make sure the adjuster is IN as far as it will go. give yourself as much room as possible.

 

[KidVermicious]

No, the adjuster is on the top, just under the cylinder. The spring is immediately below that. If I leave the adjuster out, I can get the shoes close enough that I can just barely wrestle the spring on, but once I do that I can't pull the shoes apart enough to put the adjuster in. If I start with the adjuster in, I can't get the shoes close enough to get the spring on.

Yah I've got the adjuster shortened as far as it'll go.

 

[nevada]

oh. you need a spring tool.

 

[UteRunner]

It's been a while since I've done drums, but I do remember using...now what was that thing called again....oh, yeah. Lot's of swearing :yell:. And Band-aids.

 

[SV_Dude]

It helps if you put your purse down and grab the spring like a man!

 

[KidVermicious]

It helps if you put your purse down and grab the spring like a man!

I can't, I'm all worn out from grabbing your mom like a man.

 

[SV_Dude]

I can't, I'm all worn out from grabbing your mom like a man.

Really?!?! A "Yo mama" joke is the best you can do? I'm disappointed in you, I thought you had more than that.

Or did my mom wish you had more too?

 

[SV_Dude]

In all seriousness, grab the end with a pair of vice grips and pull while you pry the end on with a beefy screw driver or small pry bar.

 

[RiFF RaFF]

This video isn't for the same year as your's, but a drum brake is a drum brake...

 

[KidVermicious]

So there's two tricks. Those spring pliers are worthless, by the way, at least the ones I grabbed from Autozone are.

Trick number one is to notice that the tips of the old shoes are chopped short where they meet the piston to make room for what I assume is an oversized cylinder. Lopping my new shoes short in the same place made a difference, but wasn't quite enough. Trick number two is putting the spring and adjuster on the shoes before you install the shoes to the wheel - leave the bottom spring off, it's much smaller and easier to pull into place with your pliers.

Those are my new drum brake tricks. We won't talk about the new tricks I showed SV's mom.

 

[papawhellie]

Those spring pliers are worthless, by the way, at least the ones I grabbed from Autozone are.

On tools when made in china appears insert "worthless" after

 

[Footofgod]

Disc brake conversion or drop it off with Midas. I don't do drum brakes anymore.

 

[KidVermicious]

Disc brake conversion or drop it off with Midas. I don't do drum brakes anymore.

My rear disc conversion is in the works, but I had a seized ebrake and a sticky shoe and had to do something now. I don't know that I'll ever do this again, it's a righteous PITA.

 

[wallytoo]

drum brakes get easier to adjust and put back together the more you practice/have to do it. i drove my cj with 4 wheel drums for years, and eventually converted the fronts to discs, primarily because mud/water really defeat the effectiveness of drums, while discs can still function pretty well.

i got pretty efficient at completely disassembling the drum units, cleaning everything, and reassembling. drums don't self clean very well, unlike discs. drums do have better holding power than discs, though, which is why parking brakes in rear-disc vehicles often have a small inner drum setup specifically for that.

i don't have any plans to change the rears to discs on my 4r, even if they are the "leading/trailing" shoe type instead of the more common duo-servo type.

good brake tools make the job much easier, too. screwdrivers work, but the correct brake spring slider and brake spring pliers are better.


wally

 

[KidVermicious]

drum brakes get easier to adjust and put back together the more you practice/have to do it.

Yeah, the second one took about an hour start to finish.

I'll still be swapping to disc brakes back there, though. Those take 15 minutes.

 

[nevada]

Yeah, the second one took about an hour start to finish.

I'll still be swapping to disc brakes back there, though. Those take 15 minutes.

depending on the rig, i can do drum brakes just almost as fast as disc.
the right tools, and a bit of experience helps a lot