Elite Veteran
  
Location: Victoria, BC. Canada | As I finally finished my drive axle bearing lube job and put the wheels back on #846, I moved on to adjusting up the shoes on the rear wheels.
Not sure why, likely my aging '60's-addled' brain, but I struggled to figure which way to turn the adjustment star-wheel to get them to tighten-up.
Regardless I've done this job several times (as recently as a few months ago) as I clicked the star-wheel this way then that, I wasn't getting any affirmation that the shoes were getting any closer to the drum and could still easily move the wheel by hand in either direction.
Frustrated, off I went to have a look at the service manual - again. (Section #9 - Service Brakes)
*NOTE: Important to follow the safety protocols outlined in the jacking up procedure in the manual.
I'd ticked all the boxes: Coach on level ground; front wheels chocked fore & aft; pumped the brakes a couple of times to relieve any residual pressure in the system; lifted one set of wheels clear of the ground AND had a jack-stand backing up the bottle jack.
Note: as I'd moved the differential forward 2-inches in #846, I believe this may have contributed to not being able to fully rotate the wheels while they are off the ground (hanging from the fully extended shocks) and wanted to share this as it may be an unreported result of moving the differential on these coaches. Perhaps it's because the differential to prop-shaft angle is now more acute - causing the U-joint knuckles at the drive-yoke to bind. Consequently, I was only able to rotate the wheels by hand slightly (just a few degrees) but enough to determine if the brake-shoes were actually making contact during adjustment. Any questions or comments on this, please share them here.
For me while doing this important job, I became confused somewhat by the service manual diagram (see: Section 9 - Figure 9-5 Brake adjustment) where it illustrates the movement of the brake tool in the 'upwards' direction to tighten the uppermost star-wheel of the two.
This only confused me as this method wasn't giving me much love and didn't help much either on the lower star-wheel where you might imagine the 'opposite' might apply.
So I went and looked at it the diagram again. This time I studied 'Figure: 9-4 Brake assembly' and I focused on the 'star-wheel' screw; specifically, the block where the threaded end of the screw goes into. Then the light went on...
LOOKING INTO THE OVAL HOLE IN THE BACKING PLATE WHERE THE WRENCH GOES TO ADJUST THE STAR-WHEEL, WHILE ADJUSTING IT SO IT'S PUSHING THE SHOE OUTWARDS TOWARDS THE DRUM - YOU SHOULD BE SEEING 'MORE' THREADS APPEARING ON THE STAR-WHEEL AS IT UNSCREWS OUT OF THE BLOCK, NOT 'LESS'.
You need to look into the hole to see more of those threads on that shaft appearing - not disappearing - to confirm you are headed in the right direction.
As you go you'll get to that point where you can't turn the wheel by hand any more - then you'll know you're home. Back it off a few clicks (opinions on how many vary) then repeat on the wheel's other shoe.
Comments welcome.
Happy Motoring!
Terry
#846
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BRAKE ADJUSTMENT TRICK...