# Adjusting rear drum brakes on 2001 nissan sentra **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** nissan, brakes\ **Created:** [January 15, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/adjusting-rear-drum-brakes-on-2001-nissan-sentra/24962 "2009-01-15T17:02:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AndyB1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac8455/32.png) [@AndyB1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/AndyB1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/adjusting-rear-drum-brakes-on-2001-nissan-sentra/24962/1 "2009-01-15T17:02:52Z")
Has anyone ever attempted to adjust rear drum brakes on a 2001 nissan sentra? I am familiar with the GM style and these don’t look anything like the old fashioned GM style. I don’t see a star wheel adjuster??? ---
**Author:** ![FoDaddy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/fodaddy/32/717_2.png) [@FoDaddy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/FoDaddy)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/adjusting-rear-drum-brakes-on-2001-nissan-sentra/24962/2 "2009-01-15T17:09:41Z")
go out onto an empty, quiet street. Put the car in reverse, accelerate to about 10-13 MPH in reverse and then firmly apply the brakes. ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/adjusting-rear-drum-brakes-on-2001-nissan-sentra/24962/3 "2009-01-15T17:14:37Z")
Are you speaking about initial adjustment after shoe replacement? the backing up method will take forever if you are not close to start (besides having a inital low pedal) ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/adjusting-rear-drum-brakes-on-2001-nissan-sentra/24962/4 "2009-01-15T17:18:07Z")
Put the car in reverse, and as the car rolls backwards pump the brake pedal several times. Tester ---
**Author:** ![AndyB1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac8455/32.png) [@AndyB1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/AndyB1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/adjusting-rear-drum-brakes-on-2001-nissan-sentra/24962/5 "2009-01-15T17:28:38Z")
basically yes. I was about to do a rear brake job on the car as it has 75k. I discovered after removing the drums that the shoes had little wear. I then checked adjustment by spinning the rear wheel on the car by hand. It will spin forever! (7-8 times) there seems to be very little drag. I used to use the rule of 2-3 complete revolutions of the tire for an initial adjustment. ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/adjusting-rear-drum-brakes-on-2001-nissan-sentra/24962/6 "2009-01-15T17:39:23Z")
Is there no type of threaded rod connecting the bottom of the two shoes? if not is ther some kind of eccentric wheel to rotate and make a inital adjustment? look at the backing plate for a shaft to rotate (for the eccentric type) or a covered hole for the star type. I always like to get my drum brake close manually before I rely on the self adjustment feature (just like it appears you are doing). ---
**Author:** ![AndyB1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac8455/32.png) [@AndyB1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/AndyB1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/adjusting-rear-drum-brakes-on-2001-nissan-sentra/24962/7 "2009-01-15T17:54:08Z")
yes , that is what I was trying to do was get the initial adjustment closer . I will look again- but I did not see any way to bring the initial adjustment up.