adjusting rear drums

[philpemberton94]

Going to be replacing the m/c on my dt later to compliment the gti front brakes and will be bleeding all the brakes aswell. Ive heard about adjusting the rear drums is a good idea but not sure how its done, anyone shed some light on this?

[Toms306]

Fully slacken handbrake in car
Remove drum (32mm hub nut)
Locate 'auto' (lol) adjuster, its the shiny thing with a toothed wheel on it, may need to clean it if its stuck.
Turn toothed wheel until drum just fits back over shoes
Replace drum
Pump pedal a few times
Check drums still free
Tighten nut on back of handbrake in car so wheels lock at about 5 clicks, but still allow drums to spin free with handbrake off

Swear as the bloody things never end up perfectly balanced!

[Piggy]

Dont need to remove drum. And you won't get the right adjustment either. Always a little lip on the drum etc

Slacken off handbrake. 12/13mm deep socket.

Remove wheel.

Torch and little screwdriver.

Spin drum till you locate the adjuster through a wheel bolt hole.

Get someone to put foot hard on brake.

You will notice a gap between adjuster wheel and its stop (threads be obvious)

Turn the wheel till theres no gap.

Do it for both sides.

Then take up slack on handbrake cables inside.

:-)

[Toms306]

That only works if you have a friend to hold the brake.

I've never seen it done that way before, it does make sense though.

[philpemberton94]

Cheers guys will give it a bash tomorrow, got the new m/c on and bled the system car feels like its going to do a stoppie so best adjust them

Also i have noticed that under very hard braking the front wheels lock up for a split second before the abs kicks in, any ideas?

[Piggy]

If you havnt a friend...like tom , then use a broom/stick etc and push pedal down and hold it against the drivers seat

[Toms306]

Also i have noticed that under very hard braking the front wheels lock up for a split second before the abs kicks in, any ideas?

That's normal. The ABS isn't psychic, it'll only work when it detects a wheel locking.

[philpemberton94]

Ok cheers, if i do need to take the drum off, how tight is the nut? Is it going to be like the front hub nut or can i just do it with a breaker bar on the axle stands?

[Toms306]

Not very tight, about 260Nm iirc? Nowhere near as tight as the fronts anyway. But Piggys method does remove the need to do that.

[Piggy]

For a proper brake service it is advisable to still remove the drum, you can inspect the brake cylinder seals, clean out all the brake dusts, grease the mechanisms (white grease) and take lip off the drum too if you can.

But if you just want to adjust it, dont bother with the hassle...esp when the ruddy bearings often split in two!

[philpemberton94]

Think I'll use piggys method for now, seems a bit easier, will see if someone wants to be my friend for half an hour, failing that ill stick a brick or something on the pedal

[Piggy]

Not a brick on the pedal...that will do bugger all. Its needs to down hard, so needs to be something like a broom or pole wedged against the seat with the pedal as far down as you can get it

[philpemberton94]

Ahh right ok, will see what i have lying around!