Adjusting Drum Brakes on 110

[RBBailey]

This is an '88 110. I've not had problems adjusting them before, nor on the Series, but they are not working this time.

The drums are a bit warped, so maybe that has some bit to do with it. My brakes have always been good, but over the past month, I've noticed that the pedal feel is just a bit less sensitive than it used to be, so I decided to see about making it a bit tighter down there.

At first, it seemed OK, the pedal responded well, but when I drove it, the pedal sank directly to 3/4 of the way down before grabbing. Usually I get good feedback at about 1/4 travel. So I got under there and went at it again. And again. And again. Something isn't right. I can pump the pedal once to get the pressure back, and they do grab as normal, just way down at that 3/4 point.

Maybe there is a particular sequence? Loosen all first? Then do just the front shoes, then the rear? One wheel first, then the other?

The main issue with properly adjusting them is that the difference between a solid grab, versus no contact at all is often no movement at all, just a bit of pressure on the cam one way or another.

 

[RBBailey]

OK, not sure if this is true success, or not. I managed to get them back to the way they were, and maybe a bit better. Here's what I did.

1. Loosen the park brake.
2. Loosen all adjusters on both wheels. This allows you to freely spin each wheel with as little resistance as possible, gets you to a zero point.
3. Lift one wheel.
4. Adjust the forward shoe first, then the aft.
5. Do this again for the other side.
6. Then readjust the park brake.

My only concern is that the difference between grabbing too much, and not at all is a hair-line difference on a turn on the adjustment cam. It's so little of a difference, that I could imagine them coming loose on their own while driving. I can still feel the cam clicking, so it does not seem to be worn out. Also, I purposefully left each cam just as slightly tight as I could make them so that I could hear just a bit of brake noise as I turned the wheel by hand. I don't know if maybe this is too tight, and might cause some excess heat. What type of temps might I see on the drums from normal driving so that I might check in on them tomorrow?

 

[Red90]

Are the shoes installed the right way? It is easy to get them wrong. Are you turning the cams the right way?

 

[RBBailey]

Could not say about the shoes, I did not install them. These have been on since I bought it, just waiting for them to wear out so I can look into switching to disc brakes. Yes, cams were turned correct directions.

 

[Red90]

So cams are all being turned clockwise as viewed from the inside/axle side? Small adjustment in the cams should not create large changes in pedal travel, so there is something installed wrong or being done wrong.

 

[Red90]

You probably need to pull the drums and look to see if the shoes are in the right way, springs are in the right way and there is no damage to the cams.

 

[RBBailey]

So cams are all being turned clockwise as viewed from the inside/axle side? Small adjustment in the cams should not create large changes in pedal travel, so there is something installed wrong or being done wrong.

Well, I can't remember which way I was turning it now. I confirmed by turning them all the way to the end where it backs up against itself, then turning it back the other way you could feel the cam clicking through. On the wrong end, if you hold it tight, it will hold the wheel tight, but when you release that pressure, the wheel turns freely. If you turn them tight in the correct direction, they tighten up, and stay tight, and get tighter as you turn further.

After driving today, they are back to normal, it stops pretty well, just could be better. I probably can't make them any better without creating a bunch of drag. So I'm going to start looking into a disc conversion this summer.