Hello everyone, I am looking for a diagram for the rear brakes on my 1986 Ford F-250 Diesel 4X4 with 3X12 brake shoes. In question is the proper installation of the self adjuster. Does the adjuster adjust up or down.

I would guess it adjusts up but the previous installer has it going down. The adjuster wheel is worn to badly to make any logical assumptions.

I believe the rear brakes have never worked very well since the shoes have been on the truck for over 10 years since I owned this truck. The front pads have been taking all the wear.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

You have to imagine if the rear brakes are pressed it would pull the adjusting cable tighter which in turn moves the adjuster spur UP. The previous owner may have put it on backwards or mixed up with the other side.

 

Thank you very much. I will get to it as soon as the parts come in.

 

Autozones website has a picture of what everything should look like. Even though I stared at that picture for a few minutes, I still don't think I have things hooked up right either.

 

dang.was hoping to see a pic here.
i think i have mine correct.but that top cable that comes down around i don't see how it can hook onto the self adjusting lever.it seems far to short.
naturally these cables are broken off/parts gone on the other side,and same with my spare rear axle.uggg.
google search no luck either.very odd not to see diagrams all over the net of rear brake shoes for such a common rear.
im replacing the whole works new short of drums,as they are great.hardware/wheel cylinders/shoes.
not only do not understand where that cable hooks too,i dont understand its end.its a flat rectangle bar with a spring inside it,iv no clue how this spring can work like this.
im stuck.

 

This is the best I've got:

 

heres where i am.drivers side.
i took a close up of that cable with weird looking bar w/spring inside it.i hooked it in what seems like the logical place for it.but the spring inside cant do anything,and it pulls the adjuster lever way up over the wheel see?
this cant be right.

that self adjusting lever needs to go down an inch below that wheel so it works.totally stuck.i see no other place for it,and can't understand what the heck that spring inside of it does.
im sure all will become clear when someone points out where it goes.........i hope lol.

 

ah damn.it looks like i have it in the right place according to that then swooshcmk?
i see a major mistake i made,that cable guide "2a179" was supposed to go into in the shoe before i put it on so that the tabs can be bent from behind.so im going to undue what iv done so i can make sure that guide cant slip out.
when i get those bent,and back together im come back in to hear opinions.
thanks!

 

I think you might have to flip that spring - as in rotate it around the shaft 180 degrees maybe? Or maybe it has to flip on the shaft? It looks like the spring is just putting the tension on the lever the wrong way. I haven't had mine apart in quite some time so it's kind of fuzzy for me too

 

Anyone else ever wonder how the heck they can make automotive drum brakes so complicated? Take apart a semi truck or trailer drum brake and it's painfully simple.... wtf lol

 

ok that sucked.but sure worth doing,or it would have fell out of there-that guide up top i mean.got the tabs bent from behind so there's no way she's coming out now.
least i know to do that before doing anything to the other side.
now to figure out where that queer thing on the end goes lmao.

well see,i can't rotate that spring.it comes already installed inside that rectangle bar.i dont see how does anything at all.it seems logical that the bar with the spring in it,connects to that lever,but the cable doesnt seem long enough.

 

Maybe instead of spinning the spring lever clockwise to the hole in the brake shoe you can go the long way and go counterclockwise? That would reverse the tension on the lever to push it back down as a return spring. Got an old cable to compare length to?

 

here's the one for the other side not installed yet.
its part #H2599 right side
and part # H2598 for the left side
self adjusting kit from autozone.

there is one just like it on my spare rear's but its unhooked.but least i know they are the correct part.im just not understanding the internal spring or where/how it hooks for sure.

 

Ahh I thought you were referring to the blue return spring trying to pull the adjuster up.

How about if the V notch sits on TOP of the adjusting lever and the spring hooks into the hole? That will give you an extra 1/2" of cable maybe?

This is a sterling I assume? I could buzz off a drum on mine and see how mine is set up when I get home... I have a Dana axle too..

Looking closer at the 2nd diagram I posted I'm betting V notch onto the top of the adjuster and the spring hooking into where you have it hooked on right now

 

yeah sterling full floater w/ 12X3 brakes. same rear as the SRW f350's.

the blue spring i copied the location from my other axle.that has two ends,with the center being the coil of spring that slides over that bottom adjuster pin "2108" so i dont think it hooks to that spring.cant see how it would.