86 Ford Ranger 2wd driverside rear brake

[wretchy_gretchy]

Hello. The other night after I got off the freeway, my 86 ranger began squealing from rear brake drum. It was gut wrenching.

Tonight I open up the drum to find a rather import looking piece of hardware has broken off. I've taken a picture. All of the pieces were sitting at the bottom of the drum when I opened it. Some straight fell out. The broken edge of the lever seems to have scraped up against the drum and left a large streak.

My question is if I cut off enough of that broken edge of the lever enough so it won't drag and put it back together, can I operate this truck safely tomorrow? Or should I spend the time tonight in the cold weather and fix it? Or can that wait?

Thank you!

Pictures up in a moment.

 

[wretchy_gretchy]

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

In the second pic, you can see if you can clean up the threads enough to screw the end in. The other piece without the threads should slide into the first pieces other end. Don't worry about the star wheel thing for now as it is fubared. if you can get everything together then it belongs between the two brake shoes. unscrew it enough so it won't drop out and you can still get the drum on. You should be good for a few days until you can get a new adjuster.
Good luck,

Richard

 

[Road Angels]

brakes

From the pics I see that the shoes are not down to far but the adjuster is at its limits, so that tells me the drums are past service limits and that there is a huge lip on the inside of the drum where the shoes make contact, puting it back in its just going to come apart soo unsafe you could add a about a 1/8" to 1/4" worth of washers under the place where the star wheel goes so you can back off on the threads to gain some use and take up some thread it will have to go in back wards so the washer wont be under the lever, also where is the lower spring, that goes from the adjuster to the rear shoe, there been at least 3x the wear on the rear shoe than the front about 25% more wear difference is more normal, so them brakes need to be gone thru

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

^^^ good points.

 

[wretchy_gretchy]

Adjuster was laying at bottom of drum all banged up. I put it back in, but I had to screw it all the way in, otherwise I can't fit the drum back on. The drum also does not slide on. You have to force it.

 

[wretchy_gretchy]

Followed your guys' advice on putting it back in without the star wheel. I didn't need washers, as I had to fully screw the adjuster back in to get the drum back on without too much force. Took some jiggling of the brake pads to make sure they were lined up. Things slid together okay.

I just drove a 10 mile trip and tested the brake stopping at various speeds. Everything seems okay.


Thanks for the help!

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Replace with new as soon as possible.

Richard

 

[bmerr98]

I would NOT roll like that. Too much liability, especially since you are aware that things are not as they should be.

 

[jhammel85]

Glad you got it fixed! Everything may seem OK but definitely get a new one in there as soon as you can. You don't want to leave your brakes like that.

 

[70roadrunner]

get a complete hardware kit, about $20 at napa. use antiseize on threads of adjuster, and the contact points where the shoes rub on the backing plate. a little antiseize goes a long way

 

[Road Angels]

Get synthic brake grease, high temp and will last longer, comes in a small tube

 

[Andy D]

The Auto Zone down town had the adjusters and hardware kits in stock, everything out side the backing plate, in fact. I'm 10 miles from the nearest NAPA. The AZ has a decent staff. The guys at the Advanced Auto down in Plymouth are pretty good too.