[champ216]

I’m rebuilding my drum brakes and my self adjusting arm/lever isn’t locking to the adjuster gear. I have no idea what the problem could be. My other brake worked fine once I rebuilt it and I followed the same process. Any ideas? (I have tried maneuvering it up and it doesn’t work)

 

[champ216]

Up top, the two springs should be on top of the cable. That's the only thing I see wrong. I'm not sure that would cause the cable to put a side load on the lever, but I suppose it's possible. Did you try flipping the hook around on the cable? I can't remember if it's supposed to hook into the back side of the lever or the front, but I could see that causing it to pull away, if it's backwards.

The cable isn’t causing any problems. I’ve tried it with both orientations and with the springs on top of it. No luck

 

[champ216]

Compare the old parts to the new. Lever and shoe. The hole for the lever looks further back in the shoe compared to pictures I have, but it is very hard to be sure.

This was the old setup. It all looks to be in the right place.

 

[champ216]

The cable hook in the old set up is in a different position. Old set up cable is pulling lever back, new setup it’s pulling lever up. Like Narve mentioned you need to put old and new parts side by side and compare

I have already compared them side by side. The cables are the same length, and I ended up using the old one anyways. The orientation of the hook hasn’t mattered, since I have tried both to no avail.

 

[champ216]

You still need to change up the order of the springs & cable, you can see the cable riding off the guide in your picture.

Its been many years since ive done brakes on an 8.8, is the lever supposed to be bent like that?

I’ll switch the positioning when I get home and let you know. The lever is supposed to be bent like that though. It looks a little questionable at first, but works great (on the other side at least)

 

[champ216]

You need to reposition the cable like Reptillikus mentioned, cable first then springs

Will do. I’m checking it out when I get home, and I’ll let you know.

 

[champ216]

I’ll switch the positioning when I get home and let you know. The lever is supposed to be bent like that though. It looks a little questionable at first, but works great (on the other side at least)

Still nothing. I switched the orientation of the hook and put the ring at the base behind the 2 springs. Could I bend the spring’s “hook” (the one attacked to the arm) in order to tighten it??

 

[champ216]

You still need to change up the order of the springs & cable, you can see the cable riding off the guide in your picture.

Its been many years since ive done brakes on an 8.8, is the lever supposed to be bent like that?

Check my response to Jscatt

 

[champ216]

Did you compare the old lever to the new to make sure they were exactly the same? This is just weird,

They’re they same. If it means anything, I got the kit from Jeff’s Bronco Graveyard. I’m just so confused about all of it. I think I might just call a mobile mechanic for help if I can’t figure it out in a day or two

 

[champ216]

Appreciate the detail! The slightly rusty master cylinder is my brake I’m having issues with and there is a noticeable difference with the guide. I’m hoping that should be the problem, but I can’t help but think the spring holding the guide looks a little off too. Do kits normally come with copies of the same springs (making it so that you have to flip them over for them to work)? Or are they typically made specifically for the right and left?

 

[champ216]

I guess you've got two threads going on this issue. Here's my .02, as I posted this on the other thread.
It kind of looks like that lever is riding too far down on that star wheel and isn't engaging the teeth properly on the star wheel. Check that the cable guide's flange (on the backside of the guide) is inserted all the way in the brake shoe's hole before the spring's hook is installed. If it isn't, that would effectively make the cable longer, allowing the lever to ride low on the star wheel. The tab should ride slightly higher than the halfway or 9 o'clock position on the wheel, otherwise it just rides on and slides over the teeth.
It may not matter, but usually the tab on the adjusting lever is bent back slightly so the edge better engages those teeth. That tab in your photo looks to be pretty flat.
You said the cables measured the same, so I suspect it's more likely the out of position cable guide. Otherwise try using the old lever to see if that resolves the issue. Good luck!

Check reply with photos.

 

[champ216]

In the second picture, the cable guide does not look as if it's seated flat against the brake shoe. The back of that cable guide has a small locating flange that must fit into the hole on the brake shoe and it is held in place with the short hook end of the spring and then you stretch the other end (long hook) over the anchor pin. I would try this: First, install the cable loop end on the anchor pin and then install the springs, (Red one last.) This will make it easier to hold the cable guide flange in that hole on the brake shoe when installing the spring. Let us know how, or if, that works.

I haven’t been home, but I’ll give it a go tomorrow. I’m really hoping that it’s just the guide not being seated all the way, but for some reason I feel like it’s just too small of a difference to change anything. I will keep you updated

 

[champ216]

In the second picture, the cable guide does not look as if it's seated flat against the brake shoe. The back of that cable guide has a small locating flange that must fit into the hole on the brake shoe and it is held in place with the short hook end of the spring and then you stretch the other end (long hook) over the anchor pin. I would try this: First, install the cable loop end on the anchor pin and then install the springs, (Red one last.) This will make it easier to hold the cable guide flange in that hole on the brake shoe when installing the spring. Let us know how, or if, that works.

Finally figured it out. The new lever I got had a manufacturing error. It was slightly thin on the actual latching portion but looked just like the old one, causing my confusion. I just threw the old one in and it worked great. Thanks for the help. I appreciate the time