How to tighten shoes without taking wheel off?

[Carnoobie]

Shoes over time will get loose and dont grab as well. Im looking for a way to have my shoes tightened to where they should be without having to get mech to pop wheel and drum off, and turn the star wheel. I was told

1) Reverse with some speed and brake very hard with regular foot brake. Do this a few times.

2) With foot off the brake pedal, pull up ebrake all the way up til super tight and release. Do 10x.

Will either of these work? Cause even though we have auto adjusters they are finnicky and dont work that well. For instance you could have your shoes backed off all the way to its loosest setting, but the auto adjuster wont be able to adjust the shoes tight enough because theyre backed off too much.

And if shoes are manually adjusted too tight, auto adjustor doesnt back them off.

 

[tommygunn]

You have a problem absolutely nobody else I've ever heard of has. The brakes adjust themselves through regular driving absolutely fine and only need to be meddled with if they are replaced.

Find a better hobby then worrying about every little thing you can imagine. Seriously, you have obsessive compulsive disorder. Given that your folks apparently clean the kitchen 8 hours a day like the thread you posted awhile ago, clearly it runs in the family.

 

[Sillicon]

Any of the drum brakes I have dealt with have a slot on the backing plate, plugged with a rubber insert, that you can use to adjust the brakes. I don't have a lot of experience though.

#1 is for getting stuck (dragging) e-brakes to release.

Never heard #2 before.

 

[KB2008X]

Carnoobie, Tell us about the car you're referring to.

Year Make Model

Keith

 

[Carnoobie]

Originally Posted By: Sillicon
Any of the drum brakes I have dealt with have a slot on the backing plate, plugged with a rubber insert, that you can use to adjust the brakes. I don't have a lot of experience though.

#1 is for getting stuck (dragging) e-brakes to release.

Never heard #2 before.


I thought each time you reverse and brake your shoes firm up?

I have heard of the adjuster on the backing plate but dont think there is on mine.

 

[Carnoobie]

Originally Posted By: KB2008X
Carnoobie, Tell us about the car you're referring to.

Year Make Model

Keith


01 Civic

 

[mahansm]

The drum brakes have an automatic adjustment mechanism that takes up slack when the brakes are applied with the car moving backwards.

Unless you are doing a lot of braking without ever applying the brakes in reverse, this should be sufficient.

Applying and removing the parking brake will do precisely nothing for the adjustment.

There should be an oval slot on the backing plate with a rubber plug. Removing the plug will allow you to access the star wheel with a flat screwdriver or adjusting tool to take up any slack. However, the adjustment only goes easily one way because of the ratcheting of the automatic adjuster and it's quite easy to go too far.

The shop manual will tell you which way to turn the star wheel to remove play from the mechanism; remember that the mechanisms are mirror imaged so that the near edge of the star wheel will move the same direction (up/down) to tighten on both sides of the car.

 

[KB2008X]

Originally Posted By: Sillicon
Any of the drum brakes I have dealt with have a slot on the backing plate, plugged with a rubber insert, that you can use to adjust the brakes. I don't have a lot of experience though.


Making it easy to adjust your rear shoes is not something that most car manufacturers give a hoot about. There are some that allow for easy adjustment from the back of the backing plate. Just pull the plug and adjust. Some will have the plugs to pull but it is impossible to get a tool in there. Others require you to pull the wheel and go through a hole in the brake drum, which is nice if you have the car on a rack and you've just replaced the rear shoes. Then there are those that do not provide any means of adjustment other than pulling the wheel and drum.

I love four-wheel disc brakes.

Keith

 

[Carnoobie]

Originally Posted By: mahansm
The drum brakes have an automatic adjustment mechanism that takes up slack when the brakes are applied with the car moving backwards.

Unless you are doing a lot of braking without ever applying the brakes in reverse, this should be sufficient.

Applying and removing the parking brake will do precisely nothing for the adjustment.

There should be an oval slot on the backing plate with a rubber plug. Removing the plug will allow you to access the star wheel with a flat screwdriver or adjusting tool to take up any slack. However, the adjustment only goes easily one way because of the ratcheting of the automatic adjuster and it's quite easy to go too far.

The shop manual will tell you which way to turn the star wheel to remove play from the mechanism; remember that the mechanisms are mirror imaged so that the near edge of the star wheel will move the same direction (up/down) to tighten on both sides of the car.


I found a pic of the whole on the back of the backing plate. Only thing is, read to do with car in air....but does it matter? just curious why?

And im surprised that hole is actually the exact same job and effectiveness as doing it from the star adjuster inside the drum.

 

[KB2008X]

The wheels need to be off the ground so that they can be spun in order to determine whether or not an adjustment is needed.

It is very easy for a novice to get the adjustment too tight thus creating too much drag, creating too much heat and creating a big headache for the person who will be fixing the problem that you've created that could have been avoided by not worrying about it.

What kind of an actual braking problem are you having that leads you to believe that the rear brakes really need "fixing."

Keith

 

[eljefino]

Usually after the brakes have been together a couple weeks you need a vise grips to grab the adjuster and bust it loose. Screwdrivers are for a perfect world.

If you have it apart anyway, take the adjuster apart into its two halves, clean out the rust and brake dust, and throw a touch of anti sieze in there. Not too much.

 

[widman]

En general they will self adjust (not on my Corvair). When I put the wheels on I leave them super loose. Then forward and backward. Nothing to do with the parking brake.

In normal driving they will always self adjust.

HOWEVER, I have a brother-in-law who rides the brakes and when backing up usually stops by letting it slow, putting it in first and letting out the clutch. He always gets back from a trip and wants to take his 4Runner in to adjust them. I get in it, go back and forth about 10 times in the parking lot with hard stopping, and the problem is fixed.

 

[Carnoobie]

Originally Posted By: KB2008X

What kind of an actual braking problem are you having that leads you to believe that the rear brakes really need "fixing."

Keith


Sqeaking and annoying rear brakes. So annoying you can hear it from 20 ft from outside the car. "Chu chu chu chu chu chu" and all relative to wheel speed.

So when I let the car roll with brake down a bit or after braking to a crawl, I hear chuuuuuuu chuuuuuu chuuuuuuu chuuuuuuu.

They had brake lube put on the points where it touches the backing plate and everything in there is brand new, not even a year old. Shoes are high quality napas and not glazed.

The sound comes and goes. For instance it was very minimual for the past 8 months, where I could barely hear it and that doesnt bother me. But the past week its gotten a lot worse.

The shoes arent dragging at all. Both ebrake cables were replaced last summer as one was sticking.

When i get them hot, i usually go and put my hand on the drums to feel them and compare to make sure both are evenly as warm. When one is hotter than the other or one is cold i know somethings wrong and its most likely loose and not making full contact with the drum.

Seems to be most evident when brakes are hot, been driven for awhile or after it rains.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: mahansm
Unless you are doing a lot of braking without ever applying the brakes in reverse, this should be sufficient.

Applying and removing the parking brake will do precisely nothing for the adjustment.


According to my brake tech, one has to actually be going at a decent reverse speed and stop relatively abruptly to get that to do the trick, at least on some vehicles. I didn't do a lot of reverse braking on the F-150, and it took the star adjuster to get the rears back in order. With that thing, I pretty much just coasted to a stop out of the driveway all the time.

As for the parking brake thing, that does work on some vehicles, but I have no idea about a Civic. It's supposed to work on my F-150.

I'd agree that your suggestion about the star adjuster would be the most effective.

 

[carwreck]

Originally Posted By: Carnoobie


Sqeaking and annoying rear brakes....

So when I let the car roll with brake down a bit or after braking to a crawl, I hear chuuuuuuu chuuuuuu chuuuuuuu chuuuuuuu.

Your car is being attacked by a Pokémon species from a Nintendo game ?

Walmart has an item that will fix that problem.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/825133

 

[Carnoobie]

Originally Posted By: carwreck
Originally Posted By: Carnoobie


Sqeaking and annoying rear brakes....

So when I let the car roll with brake down a bit or after braking to a crawl, I hear chuuuuuuu chuuuuuu chuuuuuuu chuuuuuuu.

Your car is being attacked by a Pokémon species from a Nintendo game ?

Walmart has an item that will fix that problem.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/825133


lets please stay on topic

 

[tommygunn]

To be totally honest a grass type Pokémon would be your best bet.

I don't always use grass types against electric Pokémon, but when I do,

Its super effective.

 

[Carnoobie]

what?

 

[Carnoobie]

can someone tell me how to tell if my shoes are adjusted tight enough and not loose?

 

[Gotch]

Not to be disrespectful, but the type of questions you are asking indicates that you don't have enough experience to do this job yourself. Please do all the drivers in your area a favour and take it to a shop. The uneven heating you spoke to means that there is something seriously wrong and needs a trained experts attention.