Cory Dumas

G’day Allan, my HiLux seems to go through back brakes quicker then it does fuel, but every time I’ve changed them I’ve wondered what the best adjustment is? I have the style of adjusters that you use a small screw driver to wind out and I always wind them out until the shoes are slightly scraping on the drum.

Am I completely wrong? Also with brake lines, I found it almost impossible to loosen mine without stripping them. So I found that if I hit them with a gas torch for 2 seconds they come loose straight away. Is this dangerous?

Allan

Cory, the rear brakes on your vehicle are partly controlled by a load sensor. I’d pick out a quiet, smooth asphalt road and do a marking test by skidding the tyres. If the markings are uneven front to rear you may have to readjust the crossbar over the rear diff to back off the rear brakes a bit.

Keep in mind that when you raise a vehicle up to adjust the brakes, the wheel and tyre cause the drum and axle assembly to drop a small amount. If you adjust the brakes so they’re touching and then lower the vehicle back to the ground, the entire weight of the truck may push the shoes up against the drum harder than expected.

That’s why we adjust truck brakes with the wheels on the ground. What you’re doing with the brake pipes is interesting. Warming them up with a gas torch is effective and not terribly dangerous I suppose.