Originally posted by G. Gearloose:
1) Adjustment
Too much free play in the adjuster makes them lock up. The purpose of the front shoe (the smaller one) is to use its power to mash the rear shoe (larger one) into the drum. Too much slop and the whole mechanism rotates and binds uncontrollably upon application. When the brakes are well adjusted, the action is more proportional to pedal pressure.

Make sure the self adjuters are not frozen, and sounds like they need some hand adjustment first.

Self adjuster actuate upon applying braje firmly while backing up.

I tried 'self-adjusting' (jammed the brakes while backing up a couple of times) and now they seem to respond much better! Haven't had a chance to find a open wide spot for a test panic stop yet - but that does seem to have done it! Thanks!
Followup - tested brakes The auto adjusting did the trick! In 'Panic stops' I could hear the rears howl as they lost traction during weight transfer, and then modulate the pedal to keep them from locking up. Thanks for both tips on the auto-adjusting!
-Eric

[ 09-13-2003, 07:12 PM: Message edited by: blazer84 ]