Drum Brake Tip

[BALTANAKT]

Recently replaced many of the wear items in my brake system. Afterwards, I went through the standard process for setting rear brakes, which isn't exactly super precise, and the trouble was the Jeep would dart left under heavy braking.

To figure out what was going on, I took temperature measurements of the rotors and drums with an infrared thermometer to see if one of the corners was getting hotter than its counterpart.

There was a giant difference between the left and right drums. I liked the temp of the left drum, but the right was cold in comparison. So, I've been adding a couple clicks at a time to the right drum and currently have the rears within 6* of each other after a drive with hard braking. No more darting, and braking has never been better...

So there ya go!

 

[RCP Phx]

Did you ever do the auto-adjust prior to that?

 

[BALTANAKT]

I did. It didn't do anything for myself.

 

[RCP Phx]

They probably stopped working! Your conditions would require a lot of maintainance.

 

[cruiser54]

Why not do a regular old brake shoe to drum adjustment first?

You know, spin the tire and listen for the whoosh-whoosh as it spins and adjust accordingly.

Worked for me for 55 years or so.

 

[Anak]

I imagine wear grooves in the backing plates could affect the neutral, rest position of the shoes such that this IR temp gun method would make a positive difference.

 

[BALTANAKT]

Why not do a regular old brake shoe to drum adjustment first?

You know, spin the tire and listen for the whoosh-whoosh as it spins and adjust accordingly.

Worked for me for 55 years or so.

I did the standard whoosh-whoosh but wasn't even close.
Measure the temp of your drums after a drive and see how close they are... Maybe you have some magic I dont :gee:

 

[cruiser54]

How about adjusting until the drum stops and backing off till you hear whoosh-whoosh?