Drum brake - initial adjustment

Put together loose, then throw a couple lugs nuts or three on to hold firmly. Tighten the adjuster until you can no longer spin the drum by hand. Then start by backing off about eight to ten clicks (notches) on the adjuster. Apply and release the brakes a few times to "set" the shoes in a resting place. It should now spin pretty freely. Follow the same 8-10 click procedure for the other side, and they should end up pretty well balanced when you hit the brakes. You should be able to tell that the braking feels decent with the brake pedal still pretty high. If you back them out farther, the pedal will end up lower before strong braking starts. HTH, Lefty71