So, i adjust the drums to the point the parking brake engages at about 5 clicks. Rear wheels spin free by hand. Brakes felt better than ever. But after a few months it goes back to taking more effort to stop and the parking brake works almost at the bottom of pedal travel. Now i could care less about the parking brake but I would love my brakes to actually work. Sometimes I can smell my front pads when i get out from a longer trip, especially when i go thru atlanta traffic. Should I try a new hardware kit? the self adjusters dont seem to be doing a great job if any. Metering valve seems to be working because the brakes feel great after i adjust them. IDK any input is nice

If all else fails I'm converting to disc.

 

If I were you I would start by taking out the stuff for the e brake. the back bracket behind the shoe for the e brake cable and the cable for sure. I am not too positive and what else you can remove. If you are in there you might as well do everything. Axle seals, shoes, spring kit, solenoids....And I hate to say it but Use a little antiseeze on the adjuster, I never used to with the fear of it drying up in there and never moving but since I changed from useing that from grease it has also helped it stick a little more. I was having this same issue and this has fixed it for me so far.

 

You didn't get the adjusters swapped from side to side did you? I've seen that happen and it's really easy to do. When you do that, each time you stop while backing up, the brakes will deadjust.

 

that

or make sure everything is assembled properly. that the adjusted are lubed up and spin freely that the lever that goes into that adjuster gear is working like its supposed to.

ive owned beater offroad trucks where they didnt work right and i basically had the same issue i would just have to take the drum off and manually readjust them every few months

 

Note to self, when doing drums, only do one side at a time so you can see exactly the same way they should be put back in and that will also prevent the issue of swapping the adjusters

 

After a time or two, you learn. That's how I learned. The first brakes I worked on weren't self adjusting. The old Bendix systems with cams you didn't have to worry about swapping sides. When the Lockheed brake systems became common, well, I had a couple of swaps myself. Remember to use a dab, and I mean a LITTLE dab, of caliper grease on the adjuster cable where it goes over the curved adjuster moon and some on the threads of the adjuster and you'll not need to give it any attention unless a wheel cylinder leaks. Your shoes will last longer too.

By the way, you did get the primary shoe on the front of the assembly didn't you? Extreme 4X4 on Powerblock gave some bad info. The rear shoe is the one that dose most of the mechanical work of stopping you so the secondary shoe is longer. High end shoe sets used to have them marked primary and secondary.

 

After I posted the last message, it dawned on me that someone might have a related problem with front brakes. If you ever replace both calipers (if one is bad, the other may not be far behind) and can't get the pedal up, make sure you didn't get them on the wrong side. I got a reputation as being a master brake mechanic when I looked at an Ambulance that didn't have brake pedal. It took me about 30 seconds to diagnose it. I told them to swap the calipers from side to side. The bleeder valves weren't at the top beforehand.

 

I know its been a while but I figured i should follow up. The self adjusting lever was bent on the passenger side thus not working at all. I but a new self adjusting kit on it and its been better than ever. Thanks for the input.