If you are in the process of changing your drum brake shoes or the shoes inside the brake drum are "dragging", causing them to lockup while driving the vehicle; you can easily adjust the tension of your drum brake shoes to alleviate the problem. Too much brake shoe tension against the brake drum will cause premature wear and will make removing the brake drum for servicing an extremely hard task. With a few simple tools, you can adjust your brakes to the proper tension.
Park your vehicle on a level cement surface. Jack the rear of the vehicle up and secure the vehicle off the ground with jack stands. Refer to the vehicle's owner manual for the proper vehicle lifting instructions and jack stand placement areas. Failure to follow your vehicles guidelines with regard to jacking it up and securing the vehicle with jack stands can result in injury as well as vehicle damage.
Install wheel chalks behind and in front of the front wheels to ensure the vehicle will not move during the brake adjustment procedure. Rotate the driver's side rear wheel to determine if that particular brake needs adjustment. Crawl underneath the rear of the vehicle and locate the small elongated rubber plug on the bottom of the drum brake backing plate, on the inside of the wheel.
Use a flat head screwdriver to pry the rubber plug off the drum brake backing plate. Examine the inside of the hole using a flash light and locate the small star gear. There will also be metal rod that seats in between the teeth of the gear to retain the gear's position.
Turn the gear in an upwards direction with the flat head screw driver. You may need to work the screwdriver between the metal rod and the gear in order to turn it, as the rod will inhibit the gear's movement (if you are removing the drums for servicing, give the gear a few turns to completely release the brake shoe tension from the drum).
Rotate the gear a couple rotations and then attempt to spin the wheel. If you have a rear wheel drive or four wheel drive vehicle and the tension while turning the driver's side wheel is still apparent; perform the adjustment steps on the passenger side rear wheel. Adjust tension gear on both rear brakes until they exhibit a very slight dragging noise against the drum and the wheels spin only one full revolution when you rotate them with your hands as hard as you can.
Reinstall the rubber plugs to the back of the drum brake back plates. Lift the vehicle slightly with the jack, remove the jack stands, and then carefully lower the rear of the vehicle to the ground. Remove the wheel chalks from the front wheels of the vehicle to complete the process.
