brake adjusters not working

[williscr3]

ive been having trouble with my rear brakes for a while now. few months ago gave up and replaced everything in the drums. spun the adjusters so it just had some drag. brakes worked great for a week then slowly i noticed the adjusters not self adjusting. i backed up and stopped all the way around my block 3 times and nothing changed. my emergency brake cable is stuck solid so they dont work but i heard maybe e brake is needed to adjust? any truth to this? am i missing something? ive looked at it over and over and cant figure out why they arent adjusting. everything is where it should be and the adjusters spin freely.
truck is a 96 1500 with stock axles

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

FWIU, the E-brake will do it but, you should be able to get them adjusted by backing up and slamming the brakes hard. They won't adjust with lighter pressure.

 

[williscr3]

ive been slamming the brakes. I tried hitting it hard, light, complete stop, rolling hard, rolling light, down hill, up hill, flat ground. i dont get it... i put antiseeze on the adjuster maybe that is making it sticky. they have never worked good since i got the truck. i replaced all brake lines with stainless steel bled them and the abs but maybe the abs module is screwing me up. not enough pressure to back brakes?

 

[williscr3]

pulled the drums off again today. with the help of my 10 year old, he had to push the pedal around half way for the rear brake shoes to move a tiny little bit. not even enough shoe movement to touch the drums. the adjuster started to move but was just shy of adjusting because of lack of movement. so maybe my master cylinder is bleeding off? my abs module isnt hooked up anymore since ive done the ls swap. wondering if i should bypass this to eliminate it being a possible problem?

 

[alpinecrick]

I know this may sound obvious, but.......New hardware? New wheel cylinders? Are you sure you installed the adjuster arm in the correct position?

 

[Supercharged111]

Ya know, the 1500s got that funky dual bore master, I wonder if the delay before movent isn't normal? Sure you got a good bleed?

 

[Gibson]

It wouldn't matter if the master was straight bored, or duel bored.
If things are ok, the only delay is just the amount the master cylinder piston needs to move to cover-up the compensating port.

 

[williscr3]

I ended up replacing the master cylinder with NBS one. Brakes actually work now. I have full pedal, and back brakes fully engaged. So everything is brand new now. Stainless brake lines, wheel cylinders, brakes, hardware. Should be good for a while. This has been a slow restore anyway. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[RichLo]

Which MS did you order and how hard with conversion if you dont mind me asing?

 

[williscr3]

master cylinder: "Raybestos MC390541" need an adapter for the front line. both brake line holes are 1/2" on new master cylinder so you need to adapt 1/2" to our 9/16" line. i used "AGS Brass Adapter 9/16-18 I to 1/2-20 I BLF26C" ebay or advance auto for this part. thats all there is to it. throw the adapter in front hole put lines on and done. brakes work amazing now. follow instructions for bench bleeding master cylinder.