How do these friggin' rear brakes come off?????

[redgtxdi]

'98 LE 2.2L/auto. (drum rears)

I did the fronts this weekend & all went well. I didn't buy rears but wanted to get a look at 'em so I know how they are. Well, they're definitely not doin' any stopping. They're still the originals.......and ya, I know that the fronts do 80% of the braking, but I'd still like to put some new shoes on the rear anyway.

But.........I don't see how the heck these shoes come off. There's no adjustment that I can see. (i.e. no star-screws that you click w/ a screwdriver). I can't see how you can actually GET the brake shoes off. It's like they're permanently mounted in there or something.


????

[Mike Gerber]

There are star teeth to adjust the rear drums, but they are accessed from the front, not the back like most American cars. They are at the 11:00 or 1:00 position. If you haven't removed the drum, just remove one of the round rubber plugs from the drum and position the hole at 11:00 or 1:00 and look in with a small light. You will see the start tooth gear. If the drums are hard to get off because there is a ridge in the drum grabbing on the side edge of the shoes, you will have to back the shoes away from the drum using the star tooth gear, before you can remove them. That ridge can form when the shoes have been on for some time and wear down the contact surface of the drum. If you are confused, you can download the generation 4 manual stickied at the top of the General Camry Forum, and read through the brake section.

Mike

[BAGGEDCAMRY01]

another way to take drum off is to use2 , 1/2in bolts thier is to holes in the drum surface that u can screw them in and that will help to push the drum out too

[BAGGEDCAMRY01]

p.s release the emergency brake lever

[Venom_5]

if u still need help, i believe ASG14 might have an idea on what to do ^_^

[ASG14]

^n I;ve never done drums, haha. I was hoping to learn from this. I can tell ya about the discs fine though.

[rusty9]

use a bigger hammer but seriously... the screw trick+wd40 works the best.

[alotawatts]

Originally Posted by BAGGEDCAMRY01

another way to take drum off is to use2 , 1/2in bolts thier is to holes in the drum surface that u can screw them in and that will help to push the drum out too

Are'nt they metric / sized ?

[DarkMastyr]

Yeah. 1/2" is too big. The proper size is 8mm with a 1.25 pitch. Screw them in a little bit at a time and the drum will pop off. Inside you will find the shoes and the star adjustment. Keep track of everything, especially this little crimp that's necessary as a spacer. A Hayne's manual is pretty thorough at showing you the step by step of replacing it.

[Venom_5]

omg, something that ASG14 DOESNT know ... especially when it comes to taking stuff apart

[ASG14]

^ HAHA! Family has had 3 Gen 3's, all rear disc. :p

[redgtxdi]

OK, so here's the scoop.

First I have to clarify...........there's no problem getting the drums off. They practically fall off 'cuz there was no contact w/ the drums whatsoever.

Sooooooooooo........I as I'm sittin' there lookin' at everything, I spotted the star adjuster and asked my wife to come apply the e-brake. Sure enough, as she released the e-brake, the adjuster did its job. ('auto-adjusted' like a swiss watch)

Now here's where I'm scratchin' my head... .....

Why are the adjusters working perfectly with the drum OFF but apparently not when they're ON???

What I ended up doing was having her do that (e-brake, release & repeat) until there was some good resistance when I put the drum on, but not enough to start shavin' off any brake shoe or anything like that.

We did it to both sides until things were nice & even. E-brake is a MUCH shorter pull now. (like maybe 3-clicks)

?????