Brake adjustment Question (Drums)
 

Two questions for all the members of the drum brake club (OK and anybody else too)

1: Should the front drums come off my 67 C10 without having to pull the whole hub and bearings? I cant seem to see where they come apart, is it likely that they have just rusted up and then been painted over? Tips on seperating wlecomed if this is the case

2: What is the best way to adjust these properly, I recently pulled the drum and hubs and had to back the brakes off a bit and obviously didn't get the adjusted up right afterwards as they are not stopping as well as they did before. I didn't distrub anything of the brakes themselves, just cleaned them with brake cleaner and squirted some anti-seize here and there in anticipation of the winter. I know there is no air in the system but the pedal firms up with a pump.

Help! it's been a while since I had a car with any drum brakes let alone on all four wheels. My Haynes manual is disappointingly vague in this area.

Not sure of the year they started it but my 70 3/4t has 2 screws in the front drum that must be removed first. Then the drum will come off.

As for adjustment, I like to turn the adjustment wheel until I hear a light scraping when I put the drum back on.

Good Luck.

You don't have to pull the hub. Look at the drum and see if there are 3 flat rivet heads equally spaced on it. If there are they have to be removed. I believe they came from the factory this way and some brake shops actually replace them. I know my truck had them when I bought it in 1995. Weird things man.

My rear drums were this way. One of them I simply tapped around with a 3lb hammer as it was rusted to the studs. The other side I had to adjust the brakes back as the shoes had worn a groove in the drum and would not clear it to let the drum come off. After about 60 turns of that little wheel (in the right direction) it came off. I didn't have any rivets.

My '67 both front and rear just come off with a little coaxing. Nothing attaching them. One rear one had the shoes worn into the drum so I had to adjust with a screwdriver through the slot in the drum to make sure the shoes would clear. Try tapping the backside lightly with a rummber hammer to free them up. They may be rusted to the studs. I have never seen any on my four trucks with rivets holding the drums on. Just my 0.02.

Lippy, you're front drums DO come off w/ bearings etc. Pull the little cap off ( ~2" dia. in the center), then pull the cotter pin, then unscrew the big nut. Conical hub bearings will just slide out then you can pull the drum off.

Adjustment is best done with both front wheels (or rear wheels) jacked off the ground. You can adjust by turning the little ratchet wheel inside. I usually do a rough setup with the wheels off, just until you hear the drums grabbing on the shoes. Then put the wheels on and adjust until I get about a full revolution out of the wheel before friction causes it to stop. Take it for a spin around the block then touch one of the drums. If the drum is extremely hot to the touch, then loosen them up a little bit. If the truck pulls to one side when braking you have adjusted them unevenly.
So pulling to the left means the left side is too tight OR the right side is too loose. Just look for that happy medium.:D

Rear are a slip/press on.
Front, are supposed to be rivited, but I also like the rivits removed.

The front drums on my '69 won't come off without the hubs. I don't see any rivets of anything holding them together but even pounding with a heavy hammer doesn't seperate them. Probably just frozen together though.

I've just been pulling them as a unit for brake work.