Does anyone know the procedure to adjust the rear drums? I've been overhauling my brakes and that's kind of the last thing to do. I know on my old Subaru you just tighten a bolt. Anyone know how it's done on an 89 CRX?

 

This is the kind of thing that is covered in a good shop manual, which is something everyone should have. But as long as you asked...

There is a "star" wheel between the two shoes, near the top. Turning this wheel will move the shoes in or out towards the drum. Tighten the shoes so that the drum just turns when you spin it with your hand. Also, be sure to tighten your hand brake so that it only clicks 3 times when you pull it up.

Properly adjusted rear drums are critical to making Honda brakes work as well as they possibly can.

BTW, congratulations on keeping your light, effecient drums rather than switching over to heavy ineffceint rear disks. Rear disks actually weight more than rear drums on the Honda and disks do not stop any better than drums. For real performance, get a set of HF aluminum drums from a 1984-1987 CRX HF. They are much lighter than the iron drums you have now and the aluminum disapates heat as well as iron disk brakes.

Scott

 

Thanks for the reply. I have access to an online shop manual, so I'll see about instructions on how to get the drum open. Thanks again!

 

Horay!

 

Anyone want to be a nice guy and tell me how to open up the drum?

 

the rear drum is just pressed on the hub....if it's rusty at all it takes some effort to get it off. you can tap it with a hammer and see if that works, or you can use tow bolts that thread into the two bolt holes on the drum face and screw then out, or you can do waht I do...get a 26mm socket and take off the whole spindle and have way more room to work on the brakes, just make sure to bend the crushed part of the spindle nut up so it doesn't chew the threads. HTH

 

Bash the drum with a hammer and it will pop off. Hit it on the wheel side

 

"cbstd" is dead ******* wrong---DO NOT adjust the ebrake to 3 clicks--- read ANY manual it is 6 to 10 clicks---3 clicks does not have enough pull on the cables to lock the ebrake properly.

 

EF *****, my good friend, please reconsider your choice of words. If I was a more sensitive person, I could be insulted.

My Honda Shop Manual is very specific about adjusting the e brake. I have found factual errors in non-Honda service manuals so be carefuul what source you sight. The number of "clicks" is an indication of slack in the line. 10 clicks, 3 clicks there is no difference except your handle is farther up in the air.

A tighter e brake will keep the rear shoes closer to the drums between rear drum adjustments. Having the rear shoes closer to the drums will allow the rear brakes to engage sooner, giving better pedal feel and better stopping power.

However, rear brakes on a Honda only contribute a tiny percentage of your total stopping power. The front brakes do the overwhelming amount of the work and as a consequence, upgrades to the front rotors and and calipers will yield the greatest results.

On my '87 Si, I have installed '87 Integra rotors and calipers (along with Porterfield 4R pads and shoes) to go with the HF aluminum drums in rear. I also have a set of Goodridge stainless brake lines. This combination has Zero brake fade during track days at Willow Springs Race Track in the California desert in August.

Scott

 

how do you adjust the number of clicks? i tighten my shoes...but my ebrake is still high in the air