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Originally Posted by dmjlambert

Thanks everybody. I adjusted the brakes and it is much better now. Huge difference.

I pushed down on the adjuster wheel just like the adjuster bar is supposed to do, until I felt resistance of the brake preventing the wheel from turning. Then I used a small screwdriver to hold the bar up a little bit while I turned the adjuster the other way to loosen it. On one truck wheel the bar did not contact the adjuster wheel so I did not have to hold the bar up to loosen that one. On two of the truck wheels, the bar made just a little bit of contact to the adjuster wheel. On the final truck wheel, the bar made good contact with the adjuster wheel, and as I was turning the adjuster wheel it made nice loud clicks. That one only took a few clicks to tighten up, so I think that is the only one that really self-adjusts.

So tell me, when I replace the drums and shoes, which I still have on my list of things to do, what should I do to make sure the bar contacts the adjuster wheel and works well? Is it a matter of bending the bar so it engages the adjuster wheel better? Here is an older picture of one of the brake adjusters.

One word. "Lubrication". You have to clean & lube all of the pivot points before they will work correctly. Including the threads on the adjuster wheel assembly.

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