Removing front drum adjusters?

[66/6Coronet]

Hi Folks,
Keep having re-occuring grief w/ my front right drum, seems to adjust itself into binding and actually locked up this weekend. My question is can I remove the self adjuster cable and have a spring holding the adjuster wheel in place like the earlier drums? Also, any ideas as to why this is happening? Thanks in advance.

 

[YY1]

is it assembled correctly?

it should only "adjust" with application in reverse.

Crazy as this may seem, I've seen people install the adjusting system the same on both sides, so one side adjusts on every forward brake application.

Correct installation should be a mirror image.


...and the adjusters are left and right hand as well.

One adjusts by turning the star wheel "up", the other "down" if side by side, but both should adjust "down" when on the car.

 

[65wgn440]

Are you sure it's not a brake hose/wheel cylinder issue ?

 

[66/6Coronet]

Ya, it looks like it's the adjuster and confirmed that it has the "R" on it for right side, all seems assembled correctly. Back to the original question though, can I lose the auto adjust feature with no dire consequences?

 

[YY1]

I wouldn't.

They're there for a reason.

You can lose the steel cable, but then you'll need to manually adjust that side periodically, and that is a pain, plus you'll guarantee a pull to one side when braking.

 

[R/T Boy 67]

I have removed self adjusters in the past. Do both sides. You will need the spring at the bottom of the shoes that bends over the adjuster, just like all manual adjust brakes. Just a side note. The early self adjusters were known for over adjusting, so they changed the design around 1969. 11 inch H.D. brakes of the Era were manual adjust from the factory, such as my 67 R/T.

 

[66Satellite47]

I removed the self adjusters that were on my '65 Coronet 10" drums & the 10" drums on the rear of my '66 Satellite. Just stretch the bottom spring across the star wheel. On the Satellite I had to get some different length springs to fit.

 

[451Mopar]

Rock Auto has some good prices on the brake spring and self adjuster kits if you need new replacement parts.

 

[66/6Coronet]

Thanks guys, I had seen that some later model b bodies didn't have the self-adjuster, I will do both sides of course. I don't mind doing adjustments myself, better than having my brakes over adjust and overheat like they did on Sunday!

 

[threewood]

It should work fine. The hard part will be finding the correct lower spring as the non adjustable brake spring is not included with the kits.

 

[miller]

Manual adjusted brakes use a different adjuster, too. The adjuster tabs are not as fine as the self-adjusters. The service manual shows how they look.

 

[YY1]

If there's a known over adjusting issue with the early self adjusters, seems like the "simple" solution might be to replace the adjusters with the later versions.

 

[66/6Coronet]

Got it figured out today! Left side wheel adjuster was seized and I guess it made the right side over compensate. It stopped straight for the first time and it sure is nice having 2 working front brakes.
Thanks everyone for your input and ideas, cheers.