So, after doing my rear brakes, I have some questions.

 

The GL rear brake slack adjuster seems to be the weird piece of metal with a ratcheting setup on it. One of mine was seized solid, the other was just stiff. I freed both up. However, they don't seem to be adjusting themselves, which makes sense - only one end is secured, the other is free to slide back and forth a bit.

 

How does one adjust these? If they are supposed to be automatically adjusting, how does one convince them to do so, and if not, how does one adjust them? On the DL, it was pretty simple - turn knob until brakes drag, turn back one or two clicks. On the GL, there's a tiny little access hole on the back of the brake mounting setup, which I suspect is related to the adjustment. However, without taking the drum off, I can't tell how exactly I'm supposed to go about adjusting things with it. Also, if I do successfully adjust the brakes out, how do I retract them when I need to pull the rear hub off? I'm suspecting I can use that little access hole and poke things properly to adjust the brakes, but I'm a bit fuzzy on how exactly I should do it.

 

I'm planning to pull the drums off again tomorrow to take a look at this setup, if nobody has any tips.

 

-=Russ=-

Its called rear disc brake conversion. worth the money and the time. goto a jy and find a turbo wagon. the brake pads are prolly still good on it.

 

40 bucks you could have rear discs...

So... nobody knows?

 

I suppose I'll play with it tomorrow & do a writeup.

 

-=Russ=-

I believe it auto-adjusts.

 

A couple years ago I did the brakes on my car. Got it all put back together, hit the brakes, and heard them click as it took up space

 

I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Funny, my GL had the manual adjustment. I'm not sure, but I thought that all rear drums (on front e-brake Soobs) were manual adjustment?

They're called Strut-Quadrant Adjusters. At least that's the fancy name for them. I'm not sure exactly when the moment of adjustment occurs, but I believe that they adjust when you put the brakes on while backing up. I've done rear brakes on two EA82's, and both times, I put it together with the adjustment set so the drums would just fit over the shoes, and they adjusted themselves normally with no help from me. As long as the adjusters are in good shape and move freely, they should do everything by themselves.

Hrm. Mine aren't adjusting themselves. I'll clean them up some more when I pull the drums off tomorrow.

 

-=Russ=-

Oh, it's an EA-82 GL. Didn't know what your car was. Also didn't know the EA-82's had auto adjust. Cool.

When you put them back together, try to get the shoes as close to touching the drums as possible while still being able to get the drums back on.

Drive backwards in an empty parking lot and hit the brakes hard. Should self adjust...

 

or the brakes will completely fail and you will hit something that naturally stops you. Sorry couldnt resist.

 

I would be another person that recommends disc brake conversion.