M38 major brake shoe adjustment help needed

Kendall · Post by **Kendall** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 4:40 pm

Hi,
I need advise on adjusting the brake shoes on my M38. This may have been this way for a while, but I just noticed it while flat-towing my jeep to a gun show recently and finding the right-front drum extremely hot. I reviewed TM9-8012 and tried a "brake shoe adjustment (major)" but I cannot get the 0.005-inch clearance. I can only rotate the shoe anchor pin a very little bit before the drum locks up. In other words I do not have enough adjustment to move the shoe away from the drum to get the required clearance. I am assuming that until I get the lower pin adjusted correctly there is no need to try and adjust the upper pin.
Do I have the wrong shoes (the shoes do not have much wear on them)? Has it not been put together correctly sometime in the past? Is there something else I am missing?
Thanks for your help,
Kendall

Post by **wesk** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 9:22 pm

Do I have the wrong shoes (the shoes do not have much wear on them)? Has it not been put together correctly sometime in the past? Is there something else I am missing?

We could answer these questions if you posted photos of what you have for shoes, backing plates and drums.

This is what you should have:

Kendall · Post by **Kendall** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 1:09 pm

You are right- it would help to see some photos of what my set-up is. I posted some in my photo album.
On the brake drum KH 2262 is stamped. The shoes are Bendix and 41486 is stamped on the shorter shoe.

I hope this helps. Thanks for the help,
Kendall[/url]

donthedickens · Post by **donthedickens** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:26 pm

It sounds like you have a wheel cylinder piston stuck. Pull your wheel off and see if you can push the pistons back in. Then have someone >>gently<< mash on the brake pedal and see id both pistons move. Don't go too far or the pistons will pop out. A piston on one side is probably stuck or very sluggish.

artificer · Post by **artificer** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 1:39 pm

Early Jeep Foot Brake Major adjustments made simple [diagram 1]:
Brake shoes must be concentric with drums. This can’t happen with skimmed drums & standard shoes [see diagram 2]
1. Turn all cam adjusters to fully retract all shoes
2. Turn all bottom anchor adjusters so dots [or arrows] face one another
3. Turn anchor in direction of arrow/s until the shoe heel/s drags on drum
4. Turn top cam/s in the arrow direction of the arrow/s to bring the shoe into contact with the drum. This will cause the shoe/s heel/s to lose contact with the drum
5. Turn the anchors again in the direction of the arrows until the shoe heel/s just drag on the drum/s again
6. Repeat step #4
7. Repeat step #3 & #4 until cam adjustment no longer frees the shoe/s heel. Then tighten the anchor bolt nut/s
8. Repeat procedure for all shoes if you have not already done so

Other methods that can be used to adjust shoes to concentricity with brake drum/hub not fitted