Expert: Brad Sears - 3/14/2008

Question
I am replacing front and rear shoes on a 1936 Dodge D2 Sedan for the first time. These are the type that you adjust by the bottom nut that holds the shoes in place.  My problem is that even when they are adjusted all the way in the drums still won't go over the shoes and the drums have been cut.  I did notice that at the top by the wheel cylinder the return spring is not pulling the shoes into the cylinder.  It looks as though the the shoes are being held back from going more into the cylinder by the snail cam adjuster.  My question I guess is, do I need to adjust those snail cam adjusters.  I never saw any references to adjusting these, and I don't know if these will even adjust.  Any advice would be helpful.  Thanx.  Pete

Answer
The cams that are half way up the backing plate are the adjusting cams. The pivot pins at the bottom of the shoes are to center the shoes on the backing plate. In the day when these cares were regulars in the shop we used to make sure that the arrows on the head of the lower pin/cam were pointed at each other. Then with the upper cams adjusted at the lowest point the drums should slide on. Then adjust the upped cams so that the drum is almost locked up. Back the cam off until the drum just rotates and you should have a good brake.