I have a 1999 Chevy Suburban K2500 (4x4) with a 7.4L engine. As viewed from the backing plate, which way do I turn the star adjuster for the drivers-side rear drum brake to loosen the brake shoes from the drum? Do I turn the adjuster so it moves downward or upward? Also, I have searched around fo…

The automatic adjustment lever pushes down on the outside of the star, or rotates it up on the inside, so you will want to turn the star down from the inside. You won’t be able to unless you push the adjustment plate out slightly with a flat screwdriver or something while rotating the star (two hand…

The star wheel is just a bolt so when you turn it clockwise/righty it goes farther down on the bolt and loosens the shoes. Turning it counter-clockwise/lefty makes the bolt longer (like you were unscrewing it) and tightens the shoes. Disc brakes are a lot easier.

[image] bing: Disc brakes are a lot easier Yea…there is no manual adjustment

Edit - see @meanjoe75fan - You’re wrong, it’s reversed on the other side (you turn one clockwise, one counterclockwise, looking from the front of the car), so you have to know what @OldcarsRbest said about how to loosen it up. An adjuster and a narrow screwdriver or rod is needed. There’s a ‘left…

[image] bing: Turning it counter-clockwise/lefty makes the bolt longer (like you were unscrewing it) and tightens the shoes. No, drum brakes are mirror images of each other. One is “standard” thread; one is reverse thread. BOTH need to be pushed downward to back the shoes off.

I use a bent screwdriver like @Barkydog mentions above for this job on my drums-all-around truck, works like a charm. The repair manual says I have to press that lever to turn the brake adjuster wheel, but I never do. It turns ok for me whether I press that lever or not. The repair manual is a good…

Brake Star Adjuster

Maintenance/Repairs

Barkydog December 20, 2016, 11:44pm 7

And I had a screwdriver I bent in a vice to do the job as I was too cheap to spend what, 4 bucks on the brake adjustment tool? But I had plenty of forged steel screwdrivers, not all screwdrivers may tolerate this treatment.

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Brake Star Adjuster

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