1998 Z71 SOFT BRAKE PEDAL SOLVED

[Oldblue98]

I've heard of two different ways of auto-adjusting them. Either hit the brakes hard in reverse or have a functional parking brake that you use regularly. The two methods dont interchange, its the way the drums are designed, so either one or the other. If reverse doesn't work then you need to fix your parking brake cable.

Parking brake brings mine up.. push & release several times . Everything is new in my braking system, I will not testify that this method works on rusty or corroded brakes.

 

[Schurkey]

So I tried this on my 1997 k1500 with f44 package semi float rear end 6 lug. I do have ABS front and rear. I pulled drums off and adjusted shoes so it was hard to put drums back on had to beat on with 2x4 and hammer.

Well I can definitely feel the brake pedal is firmer and you feel the rear grab before front.

Drove around neighborhood and you can feel the drag from rear brakes. Got home and rear brakes were HOT. 450 degrees according to temp gun. Saw some smoke too. Yikes!

Should I remove drums again (if I can) and back off adjustment? Brakes won’t drag as bad but pedal will be back to spongy.

Before I did this I would always hear groan from rear brakes at stoplight creeping ahead unless I was hard on pedal.

Over-tightening the rear brakes is not a solution. It's a band-aid. Yup, you need to loosen the adjustment a little bit--and hope you didn't heat-check the drums or ruin the shoes.

 

[97K1500Silverado]

Damnit.

I put truck in gear on jack stands and it would move tires at idle so I thought I was close enough and not too tight.

Suppose I’ll have to crack a few beers this weekend and readjust.

 

[97K1500Silverado]

1997 K1500 F44 package which is the 14 bolt 6 lug semi float rear axle with 3:73 gears.

I backed the self adjusters off and can now rotate the drum by hand. I'm back to my soft spongy factory brake pedal.

1. How are the rear shoes auto adjusted on the 14 bolt semi float rear axle? By using the parking brake or backing up in reverse and braking?

2. What are thoughts on a GMT800 master cylinder swap? My ABS works fine and I don't want to mess that up.

I upgraded to drilled and slotted powerstop front rotors which came with rebuilt single piston calipers painted red. I noticed a much better bite after installing these but want a firmer pedal. Hell, my 1979 K10 seems to stop better than the 97.

Still love the GMT400 generation for all the other aspects. Reliability, design, dependability, fuel economy, fuel injection, etc.

 

[Schurkey]

1997 K1500 F44 package which is the 14 bolt 6 lug semi float rear axle with 3:73 gears.

1. How are the rear shoes auto adjusted on the 14 bolt semi float rear axle? By using the parking brake or backing up in reverse and braking?

Do you have leading/trailing shoes, or duo-servo?

Leading/trailing has the adjuster on top, activated by the park brake.

Duo-servo has the adjuster at the bottom, activated by the service brake when stopping in reverse.

 

[97K1500Silverado]

Its the larger shoes and the adjuster is at the bottom. Shoes look the same size

 

[97K1500Silverado]

Do you have leading/trailing shoes, or duo-servo?

Leading/trailing has the adjuster on top, activated by the park brake.

Duo-servo has the adjuster at the bottom, activated by the service brake when stopping in reverse.

Its the larger shoes and the adjuster is at the bottom. Shoes look the same size

 

[97K1500Silverado]

I used the parking brake a few times and didn't notice a change. I made sure my self adjusters were working when I had drums off. Perhaps they are auto adjusted to the max currently.

 

[Schurkey]

The metal of the shoes is the same size. The lining glued or riveted to the steel will be different front shoe/rear shoe.

The lining on the front shoe should be shorter than the rear shoe. Probably thicker, too.

 

[Gibson]

In general, the Duo-Servo system is a good working set-up.
Perhaps the most common problem is if the threaded halves of the star-wheel get dirty/corroded so that they don't turn freely.
When that happens the lever that turns the star-wheel in increments just rides over the wheel without doing any adjustment.
It's important that the internal/external threads are clean, and have a bit of brake lube on them.