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Gkiesel · 07-10-2008, 11:13 AM

Hello all, Have not been able to find a discusion of the proper way to adjust the drum brakes. How much drag, if any, is desirable for the shoes? I have always set mine up with very minimal shoe drag to avoid overheating the drums. Alot of car mechanics though will set drums brakes up rather tight explaining that it's ok for the drums to run hot for a few hundred miles because as the shoe wears the drag gets less. I don't know if I agree with that . Opinions anyone? Thanks, George.

richinny · 07-10-2008, 11:51 AM

i think inland andy posted it somewhere, i'll try to find it.

HowieE · 07-10-2008, 11:53 AM

Running a Hot Drum for several hundred miles could result in a warped drum or glazed shoes.

While turning the wheel with one hand I adjust the shoes till they stop the wheel. Then back off 3 clicks. This should result in a free truning wheel. If there is a high spot in the drum I will back off another 1 or 2 clicks.

If you are installing new shoes do this adjustment and the after a couple hundred miles do it again. This address what the mechanic said but with out running the risk of destroying a set of shoes and the drum.