I had my left (drivers side) rear wheel brake apart to replace a broken wheel stud. I did not remove the flange or backing plate. When I put the shoes back on I installed the star adjusting wheel towards the rear of the car closer to the secondary shoe, mirroring the right side. In a test drive the left brake tightened up and got hot. I went to the FSM and the forum to confirm I had the left brake set up correctly.

In the FSM page 5-9 Fig. 8 labeled "assembling Rear Brake (Dart)" shows the assembled brake with the adjuster on the lower right and toward the rear of the car. Since the primary shoe always faces forward (right?), the figure must be showing the left rear wheel brake.

In the text they differentiate between "dodge" and "dart" because the FSM covers Darts and Dodge 330, 440 and Polara. The instruction for Dart: says "The star adjusting wheel must be toward the rear of the vehicle on the right side and toward the front on the left side of the vehicle."

My adjusters have an L or an R on them. In the FSM they specifically mention the L and R stamping for Dodge but not for Dart.
On the left rear should the adjuster cable run forward along the primary (smaller) shoe and the adjusting lever and star wheel be towards the front of the car?

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64 Dart GT Convertible, 225 Super 6, Carter BBD, 14x7 SBP Rally Wheels, HEI, Fuel mod, wiring upgrade, Alt upgrade, 2BBL, headlight upgrade, front disc brake conversion

This might help a little (teeny tiny bit).......

They're either both on towards the front or both towards the rear (mirror image) not different.........


So look at the other wheel............

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

That is what I thought and how I have always seen it. However, the FSM says

"The star adjusting wheel must be toward the rear of the vehicle on the right side and toward the front on the left side of the vehicle."

That would not be what I think of as being the mirror image.

I should be able to figure it out by having someone pump the brake and see which way the adjustment goes. I am beginning to suspect that I have some other problem either the parking brake cable or backing plate.

I would like to swap over to the Dakota springs. The adjuster is a bit different and my read of SSDan's suggestions is that I would get the shoes, adjusters and spring kits. I am assuming I would use the old backing plates. Anyone know if the Dakota backing plates would work.

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64 Dart GT Convertible, 225 Super 6, Carter BBD, 14x7 SBP Rally Wheels, HEI, Fuel mod, wiring upgrade, Alt upgrade, 2BBL, headlight upgrade, front disc brake conversion

On my '64 Dart, the adjusters are mirror images of each other. I think the star wheel is always toward the back. If you look at the way the self adjusting cable is routed, the star wheel should be on the same side as the adjuster cable and lever. If the shoe moves out far enough, the cable raises the self-adjusting lever enough to catch a higher tooth on the star wheel, and then the lever rotates the start wheel down one click when the brakes are released. Rotating the star wheel down extends the self adjuster.

This picture is of the right front, which should be the same as the right rear, or a mirror image of the left rear.



The parts kits that I've bought recently have different self adjusters for left and right, because they should always be extended when the star wheel is rotated down. I would think that you could use the same adjuster on both sides of the car if you routed the cable backwards on one side, but you'd also need the matching adjusting lever. All the other parts should be interchangeable left/right (the cable, the half-moon cable guide mounted under the main spring, and the lever return spring).

You can still get these parts at Rockauto, and usually at Autozone or O'Reilly as well. Just be prepared to repeat the phrase "Drum Brake Self Adjuster Repair Kit" about 3-4 times before the guy at the parts counter manages to find what you're looking for and stops trying to offer you a brake hardware kit or god knows what else. It also helps to have the part number with you, which you've already looked up on RockAuto.

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Somehow I ended up owning three 1964 slant six A-bodies. I race one of them.
Escape Velocity Racing