Check out the rear brake.....

[Rich-Red86SB]

This was what the rear brake looked like on my 76 GMC 3/4 ton what a mess. After I cleaned it up and serviced the rear brakes I noticed there is no adjustment slot in the rear drums or backing plates. So I hopped on this site and did a search and found out some guys just cut a slot into the backing plate so I guess that's what you have to do or you'll never get the drums off so I did it and it was a lot easier to adjust the rear brakes. Thanks for the info guys. Rich

[DirtyLarry]

I always hated cleaning up after a leaky axle seal.

For some reason most full-floating rear axles do not have a star wheel adjusting hole in the backing plate or in the drum. I would not recommend hacking your own.

The way it is supposed to be done is with a brake resetting gauge. Basically, you use this tool to measure the inside diameter of your brake drum then flip the gauge over and adjust the shoes up to it. Piece of cake.