How hot should brake drums be getting?

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Originally Posted By: Vikas
On most of the Honda of 2000 era with rear drum, the self adjuster works only if you really slam while going in the reverse.

This is completely false. Honda drums adjust when you step on the brake pedal in EITHER direction.

The adjust-in-reverse type is a completely different kind of setup. Honda has never produced a vehicle with this setup.
 
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
I remember I painted the drums on my Cavalier with flat black rustoleum as a joke. I drove that car at least 15k and that paint was still on there.


I love Rustoleum of drums. My 9 year old ones look like brand new. I do not race and get them hot enough to light a cigarette off of, though.

A side to side touch test will reveal big problems, if one side is hotter. YOU CAN GET BURNED - check with care!
 
Nobody's self adjusters on drums work good.
They leave slack and vary side to side.
A manual adjustment keeps things much better. Sometimes tightening the E brake cable will pull the shoes in tighter.
 
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Nobody's self adjusters on drums work good.
They leave slack and vary side to side.
A manual adjustment keeps things much better. Sometimes tightening the E brake cable will pull the shoes in tighter.


Thats acutally what I did yesterday, tightend the ebrake cables from inside the centre console, and its a lot firmer! Before it would pull up to 11 clicks max and now its 7 and even then it takes a lot of arm strength to get it to 7. I notice with stiffer ebrake, it holds the car a lot better when parked on a slope. It actually supports the weight of the car now.

Only thing is, from what i was told, adjusting from the ebrake does nothing for the actual shoes adjustment, it primarily only adjust the amount of slack in the ebrake handle itself.

But why is it that whenever you ask a mech about shoes and adjusting them, the first thing they will ALWAYS ask you is "how often you use your ebrake?"

So does adjusting or using the ebrake keep the shoes adjusted over time?
 
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Adjusting the Ebrake tighter is not that it helps with the adjuster mechanism, but that it physically brings the shoes closer to the drums. This over rides the self adjuster's limits.

Just be real sure there is no drag! Check cold - when hot, there will be more clearance.
This can help a lot with pedal feel and braking, but set it up with care.
 
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