How do you adjust drum brakes

[sxymr2]

this may be bit of a dum question but all my cars untill now have had 4w disk brakes

the car is a 1990 fwd toyota corolla with a 2e motor

i have removed the dum to replace a leeking cylinder but i dont know how to ajust the drums back out again, i see thear is a hole in the backing plate

[rollaholic]

my technique is to stick a screwdriver in through the back, with the wheel and everything in place, and the back of the car off the ground. i usually back the cable adjustment right off on the handbrake before i touch anything at the wheel end.

turn the adjuster one click, and spin the wheel. keep doing this until you hear a slight "whisking" sound - the shoes touching the drum as it turns. then go and pump the brake pedal a couple of times, and give the handbrake a couple of yanks for good measure. rinse and repeat until you still hear the "whisking" noise after you've pumped the brakes out.

you dont want to make em too tight, as once they heat up they will expand and start to drag excessively.

edit - you'll want to re-adjust the travel at the handbrake lever once the shoes are well setup.

[sxymr2]

drum brakes if i could be assed i would chnage them to disk

[Lloyd]

Nothing wrong with drums, can adjust by the above method if the hole is easy to get a screwdriver in. If not just wind it out and make sure drum fits on, take it back off and give it half a dozen more clicks and keep doing that until the drum only just goes on nicely. Then start doing it one click at a time, when you think you're close to right see how the handbrake feels.