Stubborn Brake drums

[histriumph]

Help Guys, I replaced the rear shoes on my 95 4X4 Pathy and now can't get the drums back on. The adjuster is turned all the way in. I am also replacing the drums with new ones. The old drums will not fit either. What am I missing here ?

:confused:

[Precise1]

You probably need to colapse the wheel cylinder. Open the bleed nipple (with a line on it) like you were going to bleed the brake and push the tops of the brake shoes together evenly. You will see the ends of the wheel cylinder moving in; try to keep it the same on both sides.Once the drum goes on, tighten the bleeder nipple, tighten everything up and asjust/bleed away...

 

B

[94extreme]

what he said but you just push on the plungers, you should be able to push them both in (squeeze) you don't need to use the bleeder screws to retract them.

 

did you back off the self ratcheting adjuster nut? (looks like a little cog)

Edited January 5, 2006 by mzxtreme

[Vsicks Pathy]

Agreed, you should be able to push them back.

[histriumph]

She's still being stubborn. Adjuster and cylinder pistons are all the way in. I do not see any other adjustments I can make. The circumference is as small as I can get it. I rechecked the shoe part numbers. Maybe I'd better stick with Nissan parts and leave the AutoZone stuff alone.

[k9sar]

did you check your parking brake adjuster also? That could be holding your shoes out as well.

[Precise1]

Try what k9sar said... You checked the part #'s, do you have the old ones to hold up and visually check ? Other than that I'm running out of ideas... Last thing I can think of is that the shoes are not in the same position. Try 1/2 mooning the top of the shoes with the drum and lightly tapping on the bottom of each to see if they settle upwards until the drum fits...

 

B

[k9sar]

yea, I recall when I used to do the drums on my old Ford (ok, stop laughing), once I had teh tension springs in place, I'd grab the whole assembly and twist/wiggle until it seated properly. Usually got me plenty of clearance. Let us know how it goes.