Brake Problem

[skokie]

Well I swapped out the wheel cylinder on the passenger side. I took a pic of if before I tore into it. I swapped the wheel cylinder and bleeder screws but now I cant get the drum back on. I have the adjuster all the way in. I have double checked the springs and they look like they are in the exact same place as in the pic. Any suggestions?

Thanks

[VetteVet]

Did you squeeze the pistons back into the wheel cylinder ? they will move outward without the drum on. The shoes have to be centered on the backing plate too but I'm sure you did that. Can you post a pic of it now so we can have a look?

VetteVet

[skokie]

I did squeeze the pistons as far back as I could get them. I dont have a pic. I closed it up for the night. There is one other thing I forgot to mention. I had the wife push the brake pedal and the shoes wouldnt go back into the groove at the top of the shoe guide. I had to push them back into place. I am not sure if that is cause the drum would not go on. The drum was a little difficult to take of but this thing feels like the drum is 1/2 inch too small. Here is a pic of the brakes before I took them apart.

Thanks Much.

[Hooter]

undo the bleeder screw while pushing on the brake shoes to get the pistons to go back into place, sounds like you pushed the shoes out too far

[skokie]

Hooter. I did that the pistons are in about as far as they will go. I even tried this with the old wheel cylinder I get the same results with both. Also if I remove the star wheel piece it all goes together fine but I kinda need that

[cduster]

Turn that adjuster in all the way, put the drum on, then adjust it out.
Dan

[skokie]

cduster. I did the adjuster in all the way but I did not adjust it out at all. How far should I go? 2-4 turns?

[Hooter]

did you try turn the star wheel the other way? ( i know dumb question but i thought Id ask)

[cduster]

You want to turn the star wheel untill the adjuster is as short as it will get. In the picture it looks like you have 3/8 to 1/2 inch you can close up. It may be left hand threads, I don't remember.
When you get the drum on turn the star wheel from the slot un the backing plate untill there is a slight drag on the drum.

[skokie]

Cduster yep I did that. I made it as short as possible. Drum would not go on.

[cduster]

Is there a lip on the inside of the drum, or was it turned?

If there is a lip, I have in the past, used a 4 inch angle grinder to grind the lip off.

[skokie]

The drum was not turned. I am not sure if there was a lip.

[cduster]

If there is a lip, you will have a hard time getting it over the new shoes.
In the pic, the shoes look fairly well centered, so if there is no lip I am fresh out of ideas.

Dan

[skokie]

Here is something else I just thoguht of. In this pic of the bottom spring on the left if I remember right there are two placed that the spring can go. Is the spring supposed to go to the nearest or fartherest?

[skokie]

Also the shoes are not new. They are the same ones.
Thanks

[cduster]

Hit the shoes lightly with a hammer to settle them in place. Everything looks alright to me, and if the adjuster is in all the way, I can't think of any other reason for them not to go on.
Been a long time since I worked on drum brakes. Sorry

Dan

[skokie]

Thanks for all the help cduster. I am going to work on it tomorrow night and see what I can do with it.

[VetteVet]

HI Skokie:
It looks like you have found the problem. Get that star adjuster turned in all the way
and use some wd-40 on the threads so it will turn freely when you re-adjust it. I had thought the emergency brake bar might have slipped off the shoes and that would keep the shoes from seating together. It is hard to spot cause the bare is behind the hub and it spreads the shoes when the emergency brake is applied. There is a small slot machined into each end of the bar and it is easy for the shoe to come out of that if the brakes are applied without the drum on as happened when the wife applied the
brakes. I know it is more work but I have pulled the opposite side drum just to see how everything goes together. In the air force we called it " comparative maintenance ha ha. Good luck .

[skokie]

VetteVet
The star adjuster is in all the way. This is on the pass front not the rear. I should have mentioned that inthe first post I took the star sdjuster out to get the hib on and tire on for the night. Here is a pic of the wayI had the adjuster in but hub would not go on.

[skokie]

Something else I just thought of. Could a bend in the rubber brake line cause this problem?

[franko72]

someone mentioned tapping the brakes with a hammer .Tap the sides of the shoes while hitting the pads with the palm of your hand. I f everything is installed correctly they should settle in place. The pins that are holding the brakes in place with a short spring and flat round 1/4 turn keeper , pins should line up straight and not bent or crooked.check for all slotted parts on shoes that connect to star adjuster,wheel cylinders, also make sure that the shoes are lined up correctly at the top were the springs attach overlapping on the top pin. That is usually an area that people dont get aligned right.

[Tx Firefighter]

Brad, follow the Tx Firefighter 3 step process to success (patent pending)

First step:

Make sure the shoes are seated fully on the big upper pin in the middle. They have to both be touching the pin.

[Tx Firefighter]

Second Step:

Make sure the adjuster is fully shortened and that the notches in the ends of the adjuster are on the brake shoe like they should be.

[Tx Firefighter]

Third Step:

Make sure the whole assembly is centered on the backing plate by comparing the edges of the backing plate to the edge of the shoes, by where the arrows are.

If all 3 of these are done, it's pretty much got to go on there.

[skokie]

Kevin thanks a ton. I found the problem. I have the star adjuster on the very bottom lip of the drum. Blue lines in the pic.