Okay, don't have the money to convert to front discs yet. So, I am stuck getting the drums all the around to work the best they can.

The passenger side front brake drum is not working correctly. The star wheel adjuster allows me to spin it at will. There is no pressure on it at all. Now, is the self adjusting arm responsible for maintaining the star wheel's position or is it certain spring tension from somewhere else.

Normally, I would not complain on the ease of operation of the star wheel but I don't want the brake shoes tightening/loosening up against the drum at will.

Any thoughts?

d1

 

Its the adjusting arm that keeps tension on it.

You'll have to pull the bearings out to pull the drum off and see if something is bent or intsalled wrong.

 

I had the drum off and looked at it. The self adjuster spins the star wheel when I manipulate the self adjuster by hand. But when I push on the star wheel with my finger it moves easily and no pressure.

I guess I will have to pull the drivers side and see if I can see any differences. Just not 100% sure what I am looking for as I am not familiar on how the brake shoes are adjusted/operate.

d1

 

Okay found out what the issue was. The self adjuster arm was making contact with the spring that is attached to the bottom of the brake shoes.

Since the arm was contacting the body of the spring (coils) I turned the spring 180 degrees and mounted that way. The arm no longer made contact with the spring but now the long arm of the spring was resting in a groove of the star wheel (WTF!!).

So I tried going end-for-end with the spring and that did not work either.

So, my only guess: Is there a different spring for the left and right side??

I bent the hell out the spring to make it work. It is not perfect but I also know that it is not how it is suppose to look.

Need some guidance.

d1

 

Hey Defiant1,

I working on my front drums now. I just started getting into them, so I haven't reached the point you're at yet.

I have the drums off, but won't have the hubs off until Sunday or Monday. Here is a pic. I hope it's helpful. I am curious about this too.

 

that pic is of the pass. side...

 

In the picture the open end of the short leg of the spring is facing you. I had to rotate the spring the other way (open end facing away from me) to keep the arm from hitting the spring. Of course as I mentioned, the long leg of the spring was resting in the star wheel. So I had to bend it out of the way.

Thanks for the picture and reply. Are you having any contact issues between the spring and the self adjuster??

d1

 

No contact issues at this point, but I don't have it apart yet either. I will be diving into it on Sunday, and let you know what I find.

In my thread on redoing brakes Lady72NRob71 has a nice pic of the drivers side. It looks like the star piece came with the brake kit, but I can't be sure.

 

ok, here's the best pic I could get of the pass. side spring setup. I hope it helps!

 

You bet it does. The "hump" on the long leg of the spring did not exist on mine. Mine was straight and consequently got in the way of the star wheel. I bent mine to work. I ordered a new front brake hardware kit to hope get the correct spring.

Thanks for taking the time to post the picture.

d1