Brake Adjustment Diagram for those who need a picture

[Paul Giganti]

I've been getting a lot of great advice on this network on my four-wheel brake job on my 356B—and I thought perhaps I could payback some of that goodwill. While adjusting those drum brake adjuster "clickwheels" through that small hole in the drum, and at the same time reading and trying to interpret, "left rear, up for tighten" directions, I often get confused about right and left, and up and down while I'm on my knees or flat on my belly. I suppose that if you adjust them often enough, this becomes second nature, but for those of us that do it seldom enough to be confused each time, I made up a diagram—a visual that I can easy look at while in the most uncomfortable positions. You just flip it over so the adjustment instructions are right side up when you move to the other side of the car. I thought perhaps this diagram might be helpful to others with the same predicament, so I have attached a jpg of my diagram for their use.

By the way, I also found that seeing the click wheel while adjusting it was darn near impossible—you can use a flashlight, but once you put the screwdriver in the hole, you can't see the click wheel any more—are you actually moving the click wheel up or down, or do you just think you are?

This time I discovered a nifty solution that saved time and frustration. I have a small flashlight with a long thin, flexible stalk and a small LED on the end. They're for looking into tight places. I found that I could put the LED into the hole NEXT TO the brake adjustment hole, and the LED would provide enough backlight behind the click wheel so I could still make out the teeth on the wheel WITH the screwdriver in the hole! Not an expensive tool if you don't have one, but one of those tools that can make a frustrating job into an easy job.

Of course I occasionally make mistakes, so if any are noted in the brake adjusting diagram, please let me know immediately and I'll fix the error(s). I hope this helps someone out there!

[Ron LaDow]

...I often get confused about right and left, and up and down while I'm on my knees or flat on my belly. I suppose that if you adjust them often enough, this becomes second nature, but for those of us that do it seldom enough to be confused each time, I made up a diagram...

My cars have discs, but I'll bet you have just done a wonderful service for those with drums. And you are not alone regarding the 'confusion'. When I was taking flight training, my instructor commented, often enough: "Your other left". Nor was I alone...
Guys, can we get this in the Tech Data DB?

[Herlin E. Woolery]

Thank You Paul

Herlin