I have installed completely new rear drum brakes on my 93 f150 xlt 5.0

When I press in the brake pedal. the pistons on the right rear brake go all the way out - the shoe comes off of the pin at the top and then the shoes dont come back into place. Please help if you know what the problem is and if I've done something wrong here.

Thanks

Below are the links to the pictures.

Drum Brake Right Rear | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Drum Brake Right Rear2 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Drum Brake Right Rear3 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Drum Brake Right Rear4 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

93XLT150

 

If you press the brakes without the rear drum on, then they will come apart. The drum is there to keep the shoes from expanding all the way out (besides being there to help the truck stop).

 

After installing the brakes and the drum being put I drove it and after driving it a bit I heard some noise. I took off the drum and the adjuster screw had fallen out.

Does this mean i need to open up the adjuster screw some more? or is there another problem.?

Thank you!!

 

OK Here's what happened. First time doing my own drum brakes - lack of experience - well I've got some now.

Apparently the adjuster screw was not extended enough - and subsequently fell out of the drum brake set up after I put the drum back on and drove the vehicle.

I backed the adjuster screw out some - put the drum back on, then the wheel , drove it and seems like its good.

Still need to bleed a little bit but so much better than before.

Thanks again forum.


....Now to bleed the power steering fluid out... and change it --it's as black as the night.

Thanks again Forum!!

 

When adjusting the rear brakes, with the drum on, you should turn the adjuster while spinning the drum, until you have resistance while spinning the drum. I usually do it this way, then I bleed all the brakes. Then when I take it out for a test drive, I will put the vehicle in reverse and put the brakes on hard, which will adjust the rear brakes (this step may need to be repeated multiple times).
On another note, you may want to check the thickness of the drums. If they are beyond the maximum specs stamped on the drum (or turned to the maximum allowable thickness or beyond), then what you are experiencing will happen also.

Here is a picture of my rear brake setup that I copied from my shop manual;

 

From your picture of the right rear brake assembly, it appears
you have the brake shoes installed wrong.

Note there is a primary and secondary brake shoe.

The brake shoe with the least amount of lining material should be
installed closer towards the front of the vehicle. The brake shoe with
the most lining of material should be closer towards the rear of the
vehicle.

 

I think 93 XLT's photos are actually from the driver's side even though he calls it the right side. If they were installed wrong, I would have to take the blame for that, I stated it wrong earlier when he asked in another post.

 

The pictures right , thats the left rear , the primary (shoe with smaller surface area) is towards the front and the secondary shoe (shoe with more surface area ) is in the rear , some guys get it mixed up because they think the primary shoe is the bigger one but its not......the secondary shoe has more surface area.....Lew

 

Didn't look at all the pics, but from the 3 I did, it looks like you definitely don't have the adjuster set up right. When the adjuster is set up, the round cutout at the top of the shoes will sit snuggly against the pivot pin at the top AND the pistons will be straight, not crooked like the pics. I have made this mistake a few times, it's common.

WHen you install things, adjust the adjuster rod/star wheel before installing so that it just slips between the bottom ears of the shoes WHILE the top half moon cutouts are ON the pivot pin. Thenn hand adjust before installing the drum and check the fit as you go.

Check to see if the drums will slide over the shoes. It should just barely slide over. It may even require a little jiggling of the drum to get the shoes to wiggle around equally.

MAKE Sure you install the adjuster in the RIGHT Direction. If you put it in backwards it will adjust out every time you use the brakes and then will lock up. It is a beach to unadjust this. Been there done that, duh. BTW, I forget which way is the correct direction so look at pics or ask the other guys.

Once the drum is on, you adjust the star wheel while turning the drum until you hear some grating noise from the shoes. Then take it for a drive and backup and stop several times, this will usually adjust the brakes properly after a few stops.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

Allright she's got an inspection sticker on her! WooHoo!- also thanks for the tutorial on adjusting the brakes (cause it doesn't get that specific in the shop manual). The '93 is back and braking properly. What a lesson learned. Thanks to all that responded.
Many Thanks Forum Members !!!

In the picture it was the drivers side rear. The state inspector said it was the right side in the report. That's the only reason I called it that. I'm just gonna say drivers side from now on in my posts.

 

remember always when you are doing drum brakes no matter how many times you have swapped them out do one side at a time

that way if u have a memory lapse or just dont know how it goes together you can look at the other side as a reference