Ford_Falcon

Hey viewers,

I went ahead and replaced my rear brake drums a month ago (drums, pads and springs) and I haven't been able to get the rears to hold for more than a couple of days. What i mean by that is that the e-brake works a few times, but then I'm finding I have to pull it all the way up to get it to hold, and by that time the rears don't hold.

I'll then jack the rear up, disengage the e-brake, take the drums off and have to rotate the star wheel to expand the shoes. I put the drums back on and feel enough resistance that it won't spin more than once, so I know the brake should hold again.

It appears after adjusting the star wheel and using the e-brake a few times, the star wheel must loosen by itself, and then I'm back to readjusting it.

My question is, is that wheel supposed to loosen by itself? I know there is a metal bar that sits between the gears of that star wheel, I presume to keep the wheel from rotating, but on my vehicle, it doesn't hold it in place.

Any suggestions?
Thanks.

billj139

I had the same thing happen. A few weeks after I adjusted the rear star wheel it needed adjustment again. When I took off the drum I noticed the self adjuster was not touching the star wheel. I think the adjuster forks at each end were not in right. If you look carefully at the forks that touch the shoes near the top, you will notice an extra step on one side. The adjuster fits into this extra space created by the step. There is a step on the other end as well where the e-brake cable lever fits. Both of these steps fit behind the shoe. I think one side of the fork is longer than the other but I just went by the steps since the other moving parts need this space to move properly.

SatsumaxA

If you accidently installed the adjuster wheel in the wrong direction the brake handle will loosen every time you pull on handle. You may need to flip the adjuster wheel on both drums?