Nissan Xterra rear brakes adjusting too much...?

Hi all,

was asked to look at a friend's Nissan Xterra (rear drum brakes) with a
non-specific brake complaint (don't you love those?) Apparently her
brother in law replaced the front pads recently and she was told by
someone that her rear brakes needed attention. Well I pulled them apart
and they looked great but the drums fell right off in my hands after
pulling the wheels so I cleaned them well (didn't take long, they
weren't dirty) and reassembled and then adjusted them as I am used to
for drums. Only difference I saw between these and the old school drums
that I'm used to is that these have the star wheel integrated with the
parking brake strut not at the bottom (there's an anchor plate there) as
I'm accustomed to seeing. I adjusted them a little on the draggy side
(I like a firm pedal) but I did not think excessively so. I then drove
the vehicle about 50 miles and by the end of the drive I was smelling
hot linings. Got it up in the air today and the brakes are way tighter
than I'd adjusted them, as though they were in proper adjustment and
then the self adjusters tightened them up even more.

I'll back them off for no drag, or maybe slight drag with a couple
clicks on the parking brake, but what gives? How can I prevent this
from happening again? And why were they so loose before and after I
adjusted them the self adjusters all of a sudden started actually working?

nate

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Nate Nagel wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> was asked to look at a friend's Nissan Xterra (rear drum brakes) with a
> non-specific brake complaint (don't you love those?) Apparently her
> brother in law replaced the front pads recently and she was told by
> someone that her rear brakes needed attention. Well I pulled them apart
> and they looked great but the drums fell right off in my hands after
> pulling the wheels so I cleaned them well (didn't take long, they
> weren't dirty) and reassembled and then adjusted them as I am used to
> for drums. Only difference I saw between these and the old school drums
> that I'm used to is that these have the star wheel integrated with the
> parking brake strut not at the bottom (there's an anchor plate there) as
> I'm accustomed to seeing. I adjusted them a little on the draggy side (I
> like a firm pedal) but I did not think excessively so. I then drove the
> vehicle about 50 miles and by the end of the drive I was smelling hot
> linings. Got it up in the air today and the brakes are way tighter than
> I'd adjusted them, as though they were in proper adjustment and then the
> self adjusters tightened them up even more.
>
> I'll back them off for no drag, or maybe slight drag with a couple
> clicks on the parking brake, but what gives? How can I prevent this from
> happening again? And why were they so loose before and after I adjusted
> them the self adjusters all of a sudden started actually working?
>
> nate
>

sounds like the parking brake cable is adjusted too tightly to begin
with so its messing up the normal drum brake function and self-adjust
operation. Slack it way off, then check for normal drum brake operation.

GW

On 11/10/2013 04:24 PM, Geoff Welsh wrote:
> Nate Nagel wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> was asked to look at a friend's Nissan Xterra (rear drum brakes) with a
>> non-specific brake complaint (don't you love those?) Apparently her
>> brother in law replaced the front pads recently and she was told by
>> someone that her rear brakes needed attention. Well I pulled them apart
>> and they looked great but the drums fell right off in my hands after
>> pulling the wheels so I cleaned them well (didn't take long, they
>> weren't dirty) and reassembled and then adjusted them as I am used to
>> for drums. Only difference I saw between these and the old school drums
>> that I'm used to is that these have the star wheel integrated with the
>> parking brake strut not at the bottom (there's an anchor plate there) as
>> I'm accustomed to seeing. I adjusted them a little on the draggy side (I
>> like a firm pedal) but I did not think excessively so. I then drove the
>> vehicle about 50 miles and by the end of the drive I was smelling hot
>> linings. Got it up in the air today and the brakes are way tighter than
>> I'd adjusted them, as though they were in proper adjustment and then the
>> self adjusters tightened them up even more.
>>
>> I'll back them off for no drag, or maybe slight drag with a couple
>> clicks on the parking brake, but what gives? How can I prevent this from
>> happening again? And why were they so loose before and after I adjusted
>> them the self adjusters all of a sudden started actually working?
>>
>> nate
>>
>
> sounds like the parking brake cable is adjusted too tightly to begin
> with so its messing up the normal drum brake function and self-adjust
> operation. Slack it way off, then check for normal drum brake operation.
>
> GW


Well, before I read this I readjusted it with the parking brake on three
clicks and apparently it was driven for about 100 miles today with no
problems albeit with a lower brake pedal than I'd like. Hopefully I'll
have an opportunity to look at it again soon. I did find a .pdf of the
FSM for the vehicle, which gave no guidance whatsoever (it said
something like "perform shoe clearance adjustment" with no indication of
how to do so other than explaining the mechanics of working the star wheel.)

nate

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