Rear Brake Adjustment HELP

[Ehahn84]

Hey All

I Just had my mechanic adjust my rear brake shoes because they weren't making any sort of contact and the front discs were doing all the work. He adjusted them and now they're smoking after driving. They're way too hot. Thing is, he is out of town for the next few weeks. I know that he told me to expect some smells and what not, but I wasn't thinking it would smoke this much. I am thinking I need to back the tension off of the rear brake shoes. I know how to turn the toothed adjustment wheel on the back side of the dust shields, I just cannot find a straight answer which way to turn the wheel. I am hoping one of you could help me out! To loosen the brake tension, do I spin the wheel down towards the ground or up towards the floor of the truck??

Thanks in advance!

 

[pokeyman]

You need to turn upward toward the floor of the truck

 

[heat]

FSM shows that pulling down loosens the adjuster.
I found I didn't need a second screwdriver to free up a drum I had adjusted
too tight. It can be done w/o lifting the truck.

 

[mtbtim]

This video will help you out. Watch from 18:37 to 23:03.

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[mtbtim]

You need to turn upward toward the floor of the truck

If you're turning the adjuster from the back side, which is what he has to do because it sounds like the drum is locked on there pretty tight, he needs to turn the wheel downward not upward to loosen the brakes.

But, you don't have to know what way to turn it if you understand how these brakes work. Without pushing the auto adjuster plate away from the wheel of the adjuster, you can only tighten the brakes from the backside. You can't loosen them. So, whatever way you can turn it, that's tightening and the other direction is loosening. In order to loosen from the back side, you need to push the adjuster plate away from the wheel with one screwdriver while turning the wheel with another screwdriver of similar tool.

 

[BostonJon]

But, you don't have to know what way to turn it if you understand how these brakes work. Without pushing the auto adjuster plate away from the wheel of the adjuster, you can only tighten the brakes from the backside. You can't loosen them. So, whatever way you can turn it, that's tightening and the other direction is loosening. In order to loosen from the back side, you need to push the adjuster plate away from the wheel with one screwdriver while turning the wheel with another screwdriver of similar tool.

^good advice here. I just rebuilt my rear brakes and went through this process.

Driver side: looking at the rear drum from the outside (front of the car to your left), turning the star wheel down towards you will make the brakes tighter.