Drum brake adjustment...how tight do I go?

[Losiracer2]

Just got done installing some new rear brake shoes..I go to drive it and it feels like the fronts are doing most of the braking. I slammed on the brakes and only the fronts tend to lock up under really hard braking not the rears...is this normal?

Also, when I pulled the E-brake, the rears don't lock up, are they supposed to? It holds the car fine when parking but I'm just curious since it was my first time doing rear drums ever.

How much drag am I supposed to have when I spin the wheel in the rear when its jacked up?

[GeoffM]

Just got done installing some new rear brake shoes..I go to drive it and it feels like the fronts are doing most of the braking. I slammed on the brakes and only the fronts tend to lock up under really hard braking not the rears...is this normal? Yes

Also, when I pulled the E-brake, the rears don't lock up, are they supposed to? It holds the car fine when parking but I'm just curious since it was my first time doing rear drums ever. Yes

How much drag am I supposed to have when I spin the wheel in the rear when its jacked up? None

I wish I could be more specific, but I know absolutely nothing about drums.

['93CB7Ex]

Just got done installing some new rear brake shoes..I go to drive it and it feels like the fronts are doing most of the braking. I slammed on the brakes and only the fronts tend to lock up under really hard braking not the rears...is this normal?

Also, when I pulled the E-brake, the rears don't lock up, are they supposed to? It holds the car fine when parking but I'm just curious since it was my first time doing rear drums ever.

How much drag am I supposed to have when I spin the wheel in the rear when its jacked up?

No the backs are not supposed to lock up. if they did youd just spin ass in a wreck.

the rear brakes are self adjusting. just do a few stops from 40-5 then do some harder stops from 40-5. they should be adjusted. make sure you adjust your e brake too!

your not supposed to have much drag but it needs to be just a little bit.

[visualpoet]

It seems like the last time I worked on a set of drums, you had to back up and hit the brakes hard a few times to adjust them. Nothing crazy speedwise, but a few good hard stops in reverse. They weren't on a Honda, and I haven't had to do drums on a Honda yet, so it might be different, but since all drums share the same basic mechanical design, it couldn't hurt to try it.

[Fleetw00d]

Initially adjust them so that there is a slight interference between the drum and the shoes when trying to install the drum, then back it off maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 a turn so that the drum can easily be installed and there is no drag when the drum is rotated. When you brake in reverse, the mechanism tends to pull the adjusting lever into position below a notch on the adjusting wheel; braking in the forward direction tends to pull the mechanism to move the wheel to lengthen the adjusting screw. With the car back together, alternating braking moderately in reverse then forward to let them self adjust. Braking multiple times in the same direction doesn't do any good. In normal driving, make a practice of braking moderately hard occassionally when backing up to maintain the adjustment as the shoe wear.