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Hello All,

I am having a serious problem with getting my rear drums adjusted on my '53 3/4 ton. I have brand new drums, used shoes but they have plenty of life left on them. Everything else on the brake assembly is new including the parking cable lines. What is happening is the shoes are tending to drag on the drums with the start gear completely sucked in. I am spinning the eccentric anchor pin around and I can find the point where it pulls the shoes closest together but the problem that I having trouble understanding is what do I do now? I am supposed to be able to adjust the star gear out to get the shoe to touch the drum...seems like they shouldn't be touching as soon as I put the drum on. What are some of the possible problems that could be causing this? Should I replace the shoes? Could they be worn unevenly? It seems like they are dragging pretty uniformly but don't know for sure. Is there a tried and true step-by-step method for doing this...things that I might need to look out for that aren't in the service manual? At this point, I am pretty desperate because this is about the only thing that is holding me up on getting the truck out of the garage after a year and a half. Thanks for any input. I can give further details if it will help...just let me know.

Just to try, take the shoes off and lay them in the drums. If the ends of the shoes contact the drums with a large gap in the middle, I'd say there is a geometry problem and new, compatible shoes are required. If the shoes fit the drums, then something mechanical is the problem, and I have no clue where to go.....

Good luck

Pull the parking brake and/or push on the brake pedal while adjusting brakes, it help to recenter the shoes inside the drum,
Scott

thanks guys. I like the idea about pulling the shoes and drum to double check the geometry. Simple, visual way to affirm or eliminate that as a possibility. I tried the parking brake trick and it helped bring things in. They are done...knew it wouldn't take long once I got some input. Thanks a lot.

Shane,
Where did you get new drums for your 3600?
And, are the drums for a '53 the same as the drums for a '50?
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Ok, looked it up in Hollanders and it looks like 47-52 are interchangable, 53 is different.

You may have the brake cables too tight. Back off the cable adjustments till you get the other adjustments O.K. then adjust the cables but don,t get them too tight. Some of these old brakes had an adjustable anchor pin. You could loosen the big nut on the back of the backing plate & tap the pin up or down to center the shoes.

Yes, 46-52 are the old "Huck" style on 3/4 tons. They put "Bendix" style brakes on them in 1953.

If you're looking for new Huck brake drums, Jim Carter has them.

Denny,

I bought my drums from Chevy Duty, but the guys are correct, 1953 had the 'new' style Bendix brakes. I have never seen a 'Huck' style drum so I can't comment on how they would be different.

Wrenchbender, according to the factory assembly manual; 1/2 tons have style pin that you are talking about. 3/4 tons have a cam-like anchor pin that changes the pad alignment as you turn it. The back of the pin is 7/16" hex head for those of you that are interested. That is one minor detail that I missed until last night. It was right there in front of my eyes the whole time. I was trying to tap on my pin like it was a half ton.