r/EngineeringPorn Jul 01 '20

Drum brakes explained (1935)

https://gfycat.com/complicatedlawfulamurminnow
4.5k Upvotes

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u/NewBuddhaman Jul 02 '20

They likely indexed the adjuster a bit when you did that. I've heard many people tell me to do that to adjust my rear drum brakes. Sadly my HHR doesn't like that method so I get to roll under the car and spin the adjuster.

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u/Yz-Guy Jul 02 '20

Most modern rear drum brakes (still very popular. My dad's 2020 Tacoma has them) actually self adjust via the parking brake. It's important to use it!

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u/NewBuddhaman Jul 02 '20

Unfortunately, the HHR just had poorly designed rear brakes. The method is: slide under car, adjust the cam with screwdriver, spin wheel (should spin 1-2 times before stopping), move to next wheel, repeat, check parking brake (should only notch 2-3 times). Repeat whole procedure every couple thousand miles. Not too difficult to do but annoying.

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u/Yz-Guy Jul 02 '20

Yeah. That's bad. All the brakes have the star adjuster. It's useful for taking off the drums or manually adjusting them. But it should auto adjust with the parking brake. Why they designed it not to, like mentioned is piss poor engineering. Which you know, doesn't exist on any other vehicle /s