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Tighten lugnuts, wheels barely turn?

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koosh

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68 Charger rear drums. Decided to pull the drums and check things out since just bought car. Lotsa new hardware and shoes. Noted the star adjusters were “flopping “ around loosely. Snugged those up til drums slid on with a drag. Mounted the wheels, and cannot budge them?
Loosen the lugs and tires spin but not easily….is there such thing as over tightening?
Drums look “decent “ but are not new
 
First things come to mind are the primary and secondary shoes in the right place? Is the emergency brake partially applied? I would loosen the adjusters and put the drums on. They should spin freely. Adjust the star wheel with an adjusting tool just until there is a little rubbing of the shoes on the drum. Just a little, not constant.
 
toolmanmike said:
First things come to mind are the primary and secondary shoes in the right place? Is the emergency brake partially applied? I would loosen the adjusters and put the drums on. They should spin freely. Adjust the star wheel with an adjusting tool just until there is a little rubbing of the shoes on the drum. Just a little, not constant.
Click to expand...
That all has been done. As mentioned they stop turning once the wheels are
Mounted
 
Are the edges of the shoes rubbing on the drums? There should be some marks somewhere.
 
The shoes can be over adjusted too tight.
Maybe new shoes have been fitted to worn drums????? Incorrectly machined for shoe width???
Is there are ridge that would contact the outer edge of the shoes???

The rear drums when cold should have little to no drag when they are cold.
The short/long shoe is called a self energising brake. They pivot and "wind" in to the brake drum.
If they are too tight cold they will start to really drag when they heat up.
Back off the emergency brake before adjusting the shoes. Re-adjust after you get the shoe adjustment right - check for brake drag now also.
 
koosh said:
68 Charger rear drums. Decided to pull the drums and check things out since just bought car. Lotsa new hardware and shoes. Noted the star adjusters were “flopping “ around loosely. Snugged those up til drums slid on with a drag. Mounted the wheels, and cannot budge them?
Loosen the lugs and tires spin but not easily….is there such thing as over tightening?
Drums look “decent “ but are not new
Click to expand...
Did this happen before you played with the brakes ....?

Or, have you put different wheels on since the work? Sounds like either the wheel is different and is pushing on the axle hub end, or the brake drums have enlarged lug holes which are contacting the wheel.

Something has changed, and you need to tell us what it is, or look for it.

Also..... :xscuseless:
 
kiwigtx said:
Did this happen before you played with the brakes ....?

Or, have you put different wheels on since the work? Sounds like either the wheel is different and is pushing on the axle hub end, or the brake drums have enlarged lug holes which are contacting the wheel.

Something has changed, and you need to tell us what it is, or look for it.

Also..... :xscuseless:
Click to expand...
As mentioned in post 1…. I pulled the wheels and drums to inspect the braked on a car i purchased. Once the drums came off, i noticed the adjusters were so loose, they literally were flopping around. Adjusted them up, until drums slid on with a drag. I barely could rotate the drum (car in neutral-4speed), e brake off. Install wheels, cannot rotate the tires. When i back adjusters off a few turns, i can get the tires to move with a LOT of effort. Take wheel off, easier to rotate the drum.
I will take pictures in the morning. I’m getting the feeling the drums are messed up….
 
Brake shoes too wide?

I bought a 61 Chrysler once where a professional brake job had just been done before the sale. The shoes installed into the drums were too wide, so in front the tech just backed off the spindle nut until it would spin, and in the rear they just left the lugs barely tight. When I test drove the car I thought it was maybe a bad front wheel bearing... "easy enough to fix", I thought. I never expected what it really was.
 
I would manually adjust the brakes until they are tight against the drum to center everything up, then back them off 4 or 5 clicks. At that point they should turn with slight drag. If they still don’t turn, back them off a couple more clicks and try again.

Did you compare the new shoes to the old ones? If you still have the cores, that’s something you could check. Are the pads where the shoe contacts the backing plate clean and flat? Make sure there’s no rust build up or funky wear that could cause them to hang up. What kind of shape are the wheel cylinders? Are the top of the shoes fully seated against the anchor? Are there witness marks from the shoes hitting the face of the drum?

Pictures would help…
 
Black_Sheep said:
I would manually adjust the brakes until they are tight against the drum to center everything up, then back them off 4 or 5 clicks. At that point they should turn with slight drag. If they still don’t turn, back them off a couple more clicks and try again.

Did you compare the new shoes to the old ones? If you still have the cores, that’s something you could check. Are the pads where the shoe contacts the backing plate clean and flat? Make sure there’s no rust build up or funky wear that could cause them to hang up. What kind of shape are the wheel cylinders? Are the top of the shoes fully seated against the anchor? Are there witness marks from the shoes hitting the face of the drum?

Pictures would help…
Click to expand...
Ok, i appreciate your input, but im trying to explain, i bought the car as is, an decided to check out the brakes, all parts are new except the drums. I’ll be checking the drums for those marks in the morning
 
toolmanmike said:
First things come to mind are the primary and secondary shoes in the right place? Is the emergency brake partially applied? I would loosen the adjusters and put the drums on. They should spin freely. Adjust the star wheel with an adjusting tool just until there is a little rubbing of the shoes on the drum. Just a little, not constant.
Click to expand...
I will see Def check shoes in the morning for correct positions...I know there's a long and short shoe....refresh my memory, which one goes towards front or back?
 
koosh said:
I will see Def check shoes in the morning for correct positions...I know there's a long and short shoe....refresh my memory, which one goes towards front or back?
Click to expand...
SHort one in the front. Look for scrape marks inside of the drum.
 
I would back the shoes off completely, till there is NO drag..... then mount and tighten the wheel and see what happens. If it still binds up, you'll know where to look.
 
Remove the shoes and mount the wheels. If it spins freely it is the shoes. If it is still locked, the drums are rubbing the backing plate.
 
33 IMP said:
I would back the shoes off completely, till there is NO drag..... then mount and tighten the wheel and see what happens. If it still binds up, you'll know where to look.
Click to expand...
Ok, did back shoes off and mounted wheels, both sides spin freely. So I adjusted up the shoes for slight drag, and both are still spinning…
HOWEVER- this time when tightening the lugs, i did not use my impact gun. I used instead a torq wrench. Looking up online the consensus for tightening specs was 65 ft lbs.
apparently, my impact is way over-torquing?????
 
Impact shouldn't matter. Is it the same issue both sides? Are the axles adjusted properly?
 
threewood said:
Impact shouldn't matter. Is it the same issue both sides? Are the axles adjusted properly?
Click to expand...
Same issue both sides, i have no idea about the axles.
I will mention- while adjusting the drivers side drum, i was rotating the tire as i go, and the passenger side was rotating forward also…. made a couple more clicks on the adjuster, spun the tire again, and passenger side stopped turning???
 
koosh said:
Same issue both sides, i have no idea about the axles.
I will mention- while adjusting the drivers side drum, i was rotating the tire as i go, and the passenger side was rotating forward also…. made a couple more clicks on the adjuster, spun the tire again, and passenger side stopped turning???
Click to expand...
That sounds like a worn out cone style suregrip, to me.
 
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