Rear drum adjuster spring fitting - Tips?

[Trevor]

Fitted new shoes and brake adjuster, how on earth do you pull the spring that goes around the adjuster into it's fitting hole? I've tried long nosed pliers and a bent bit of wire but only managed to smack myself in the face a couple of times when they slip off.

Any tricks of the trade to get these darn springs on?

And yes they have been fitted on the correct sides as I checked and double checked with the part numbers.

 

[Chris]

Trevor, I think that are the same as the 80 ones. I struggled too when I first did mine. The trick it to put the springs on and the little tin caps before trying to fit them. The you can hook them quite easily and slip them onto the flat of the shoe. You then twist them to get the locking tab to drop into the hole. I initially tried to assemble them in place on top of the shoe. Nightmare.

Chris

 

[Trevor]

Hi Chris,

It's the green spring that runs horizontally across the picture and needs to locate in the hole on the right in the shoe. I think you meant the shoe holding springs lower down if I read your post right. Basically when trying to pull this spring, it needs lots of oomph as it's really strong and I can't seem to get enough grip for the last bit.

 

[sae70]

I normally fit the spring with the shoes pulled forward and the adjuster knocked out of place then push it all back pulling the shoes apart to fit them over the cylinder and to give enough space to relocate the adjuster, you may find that you need to release the shoe locating springs to do this. Another option maybe to use something like the tool that came with my kids trampoline for pulling the springs into place on that, looks like a butchers meat hook (handle with a straight lenghth of steel about 4/5mm in diameter hooked at the end). I think that you can get them for removing tent pegs, you may be able to fashion something from an old wire coat hanger.

Is your adjuster running through the spring?

edit - All looks a tad odd to me that, but I think that it's just that the adjuster on my brakes (90 series) is at the bottom.

 

[Trevor]

Hi Steven, Yes the adjuster goes through the spring i.e. the spring wraps around the adjuster albeit in a loose fashion. Tent peg puller is a great idea and I'll try that next, bracing myself for another bruised cheek

edit: I printed off the pages from the manual and did one side first so I could refer to the other side once everything was off, everything is in the right place..........hopefully

 

[Chris]

Yep, you read me right Trevor. I was talking about the show retaining pins. Not the cross spring.

Guilty as charged. Best of luck mate.


Chris

 

[Trevor]

Got the buggers done, it took a tapered metal bar to pull the spring from underneath and my neighbour to help by stopping the shoe assembly from moving and then a well timed thump with the wooden handle of a hammer to get the spring end to locate in the hole.

Glad that's over but there must be a better way than that I'm sure.

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

couldn't you just grab the end of it with some mole grips done up nice and tight?

 

[Trevor]

What I found Jon was that once you have pulled the spring to the shoe, any tool with a chunky head like mole grips would foul against the edge of the shoe and you couldn't then move the spring inboard to locate into the hole.

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I have some thin nose mole grips that I think would grab that far enough away from the head of the spring to stop that being a problem plus a nice big flat bladed screwdriver, pull grips with left hand, push end of spring into hole with big screwdriver in right hand, job done I'm so clever when I haven't actually got to do it

 

[Garry]

Good afternoon

Just p....ed myself , i have seen people struggle with this so many times.

Build the brakes up without the springs that hold the two shoes together and the adjuster spring . Put the two retaining pins and springs that hold the shoes to the back plate in place. Now all you have to do is fit the springs.
Get a piece of electrical cable about 400 mm long ie some old speaker cable .
Fit one end of spring to brake shoe and then loop cable on other end.
Now you can pull the spring paralel to the backplate ,very easily past the slot that the spring is located in , with a screw driver push spring home .
Remove wire.(sometimes have to cut out with wire cutters)
Just a small note if you feel the cable is not strong enough get some a little thicker , also discard after use as not recomended to use twice as cable will break ,usually resulting in a smack in the face .

No need for any special tools as these tend to distort the springs

Garry

 

[Trevor]

Liking the idea Garry , mind you the way things were going today I would pull on the wire, it would snap, I'll go arse over tit and bang my head on something