Parking Brake Problems after Drum Shoe change

[shermancelmare]

Hey everyone. I replaced the rear shoes on my 94 Corolla. After I did this, the parking brake has a lot of slack in it. I have to pull the brake handle to the top to get it engaged.

Where is the adjustment for the parking brake? Is it the star-like nut inside the drum that expands the shoes into the drum, or is the adjustent at the parking brake handle itself? Thanks!

[roadrunner2]

Is there an oval hole in the backing plate?

If not, I would think there is an adjustment elsewhere. Did you disconnect the cable and not re=attach it?

If you want, you can phone a shop and usually get an answer to this.

If the person you talk to doesn'i know, ask him (or her) to ask their mechanic.

[shermancelmare]

I did not remove the cable, just the shoes. I don't think there is a hole in the backing plate.

[jdmccright]

There is usually a rubber plug on the back side of the brake drum you can remove to access the adjustment screw through the back plate slot. But a good start is to adjust the screw with the drum off then check that the drum just slides over the shoes. Then use the access hole to adjust them until you feel the slightest drag when turning the drum. Though it's hard to tell how many notches you turn the wheel, try to count how many times you turn it, then repeat for the other side...they should be nearly the same.

When driving, you should feel the rear drums engage just before the front brakes do. Excessive front end dive is a sign of misadjusted rear drums.