I'm guessing that at 138k miles my rear drums need adjusting. However, I have no clue how to do this. Is this something easily done by an amateur weekend mechanic or should I take it to have it done?

Relatively easy. If you search the forum there have been instructions previously posted. The rear end will need to be jacked up where access to the rear drum will allow you to tighten the adjustment screw on the shoes while freespinning the tire. Once the shoes grab the drum making the tire difficult to turn you'll have to loosen the adjusting screw.

 

If you have 4 wheel ABS the front don't do all the work. The load is shared

greg

 

Front does all the work in almost every D with Rear Drum Brakes
Steve
DOC Pres

 

I have 4 w ABS, if it was working, I'd see more brake jobs. I only adjust the back brakes when I put the new shoes on for the hell of it, I noticed better braking immediately, but soon faded away, I'd get under and do the manual adjustment but too lazy for now.

 

Mr. Prez, with all due respect. If you have ABS the whole point of having a 4 wheel ABS is that the breaking is shared. If you see no apparent wear on the rear shoes it's because it ain't working as G*d intended ABS to work. Unless of course DC decided that ABS should only work when in a panic and for the rest the front do all the work other than for parking.

If you look at any 4 wheel ABS whether 4x4 or 4x2, you'll notice a small drum inside the rear discs. That's a drum that's used for the parking brake. When braking, whether in a panic or not, the load is shared. Whether it's 50-50 or 60-40 depends on the make and model. But a rear drum with 4 wheel ABS that has no apparent wear after 60+k miles means it ain't working or DC has reinvented the concept of ABS to be used for parking and in case of emergency anbd in that case I see no reason why anyone would have bothered paying the extra cost.

greg

 

ABS only gets involved when a wheel begins to lock up? other that that it's just along for the ride? outside of a lockup situation, ABS does nothing to redistribute breaking forces.

The physics of the vehicle are what cause the front brakes to do most of the work? there's an effective weight shift to the front when stopping.

Some vehicles have load-sensing proportioning valves to get the rears to do more of the work when there are heavier loads in the rear of the vehicle, but most have fixed proportioning valves.

Rear drum brakes out of adjustment will tend to cause the rears to do even less of the braking work.

 

Mr. Prez, with all due respect. If you have ABS the whole point of having a 4 wheel ABS is that the breaking is shared. If you see no apparent wear on the rear shoes it's because it ain't working as G*d intended ABS to work. Unless of course DC decided that ABS should only work when in a panic and for the rest the front do all the work other than for parking.

If you look at any 4 wheel ABS whether 4x4 or 4x2, you'll notice a small drum inside the rear discs. That's a drum that's used for the parking brake. When braking, whether in a panic or not, the load is shared. Whether it's 50-50 or 60-40 depends on the make and model. But a rear drum with 4 wheel ABS that has no apparent wear after 60+k miles means it ain't working or DC has reinvented the concept of ABS to be used for parking and in case of emergency anbd in that case I see no reason why anyone would have bothered paying the extra cost.

greg

Greg as Tom stated it only works in panic situations
It's so when you panic stop none of the wheels lock up.
If we all get to meet up on the 26th My wife should thoroughly enjoy the discussions about ABS etc etc
LOL
Steve
DOC Pres

 

On most modern venhicles equipped with discs all around, the load is shared constantly with a separate drum in the rear brakes for parking only. Of course most cars have long ago abandoned drums in favor of discs. However a rear drum that after 60k+ miles shows no sign of wear is basically only being used as a parking brake.

greg

 

On most modern venhicles equipped with discs all around, the load is shared constantly with a separate drum in the rear brakes for parking only. Of course most cars have long ago abandoned drums in favor of discs. However a rear drum that after 60k+ miles shows no sign of wear is basically only being used as a parking brake.

greg

I have seen the little drums inside the rotors on somne vehicles My friends Ford Van for one. But you have the wrong idea about ABS. Its called Antilock Brakes for a reason
Brake proportiong is controlled from valving at the master cylinder.
No Worries for you Greg if you can't stop find a snowbank to drive into
Steve
DOC Pres

 

just got my brakes checked today, and they said I have about 60% left on my Stock drum brakes. which hae never been touched since my family bought the car back in 01'



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My rears were in need of changing because of pad and drum lining breakdown? at 160,000 miles.

The D simply isn't designed to use much of the rears for braking, regardless of what we think it should do.

Greg, how do your rears look? At 45k on normal rigs, they'd be due for a change. My money says they're near new.

IndyDurango

 

I have no idea Indy. I took my doctorate in window motors and since I put on the KVR carbon fiber pads on the front, I haven't had any problems. Had to use the ABS a few times given the ice and snow conditions before I got the snow tires on so I guess in the spring I'll have a look at them. As it's I'm heading to Europe tomorrow and will be back in AK December 1st.

Happy trails
greg

 

Gotcha.

I went with Carbon Kevlar on my front pads and rear shoes. With 169k on the stocker rears, I'm expecting a million miles+ on the CK shoes. :bugeyed:

Have a safe and fun trip. Tell you dad some of your friends in cyber-space wish him a very happy 90th birthday.

IndyDurango

 

Greg, it's all a matter of physics. As you brake the vehicle, the weight transfer from back to front is significant. The front brakes have and always will have to do more of the braking than the rear. As the rear lightens up, the tires have less and less friction between them and the road surface. That's the prime reason why pu trucks (used as the most obvious example) always slid the rear tires on hard braking in the past. Present systems tend to shut off the rear brake pressure as the rear of the body lifts to limit this from happening. At the same time more pressure is sent to the front brakes.

ABS only stops the tires from sliding under braking pressure, as this gives more steering control, and the fact that there's more stopping ability from a tire that isn't slipping than from one that is.