3500 Dually adjust parking brake shoes

jvf

Member
Hello,

Manual doesn’t give a good explanation of how to get to the star wheel to adjust dually rear parking brake shoes. I have the wheels off and one bolt removed from the wheel flange ring. But, it’s dark and I have to quit. Can I get to the star wheel from here or do I have to take off the ring and find another hole?

Thanks,
jvf
 

jvf

Member
Whoops,
It's a 2005 so T1N. A great link. I've seen a couple of good videos but none with dual wheels. I think those big holes must be behind the wheel ring but since some videos show adjustment through the stud hole (pretty small in comparison) I thought removing one bolt might do it. I can rotate the assembly later today and see.

As with everything, hindsight is 20/20. I had no idea that these things used a drum brake system or I'd have done this last year when I replaced calipers and rotors. Ever try to get the rear end of a fully loaded service truck off the ground? Whew! A local shop let me borrow their jacks and stuff and I did it in a corner of their lot. But, now I have to do it in my driveway so I got a 12T bottle jack and developed a method of getting 'er up.

jvf
 

marklg

Well-known member
Whoops,
It's a 2005 so T1N. A great link. I've seen a couple of good videos but none with dual wheels. I think those big holes must be behind the wheel ring but since some videos show adjustment through the stud hole (pretty small in comparison) I thought removing one bolt might do it. I can rotate the assembly later today and see.

As with everything, hindsight is 20/20. I had no idea that these things used a drum brake system or I'd have done this last year when I replaced calipers and rotors. Ever try to get the rear end of a fully loaded service truck off the ground? Whew! A local shop let me borrow their jacks and stuff and I did it in a corner of their lot. But, now I have to do it in my driveway so I got a 12T bottle jack and developed a method of getting 'er up.

jvf
I have a 2006 2500 and it was a PITA. I have two 6T jackstands and a heavy duty floor jack. Getting the rotors off was hard and the new brake shoes didn't fit. I reused the old and just replaced the springs and adjusters

It is a big help to get a look at everything with the rotors off. After that, you can find the adjusters easily.

Regards,

Mark
 

jvf

Member
Hi Mark,

I might have to take the rotors off anyway if all the moving parts are too rusted. I may have located the (hopefully not frozen) adjusters but even if they could be reached without taking off the wheel ring the protruding hub that the dually has is in the way of moving the adjusting tool (long screwdriver). This axle difference between single and dual wheels is what makes these videos not helpful. My star adjuster spoon was lost a long time ago but even it might have been too short. If NAPA doesn’t have anything I’ll have to bend a screwdriver. There’s no mention of a special tool for this in the manual. In fact, what sucks is there is no mention anywhere of how to make this adjustment on a dually.

jvf
 

hskinner

Member
The best way to adjust the parking brake shoes on a 3500 is through the hole on the rotor and lining that up above the adjuster and using a 90degree pick or a flatblade screwdriver to turn the star wheel.
 

jvf

Member
Thanks guys,

I definitely have located the star wheel. It’s at 11:00 on the passenger side (prob 1:00 on the driver’s) and can be seen through the hole of the one bolt I removed from the wheel flange ring. A flat blade screwdriver should do it but shaft length needs to be at least 10” long and ¼” thick but not wide at the tip or it won’t go through the hole (may have to grind the edges if I can’t find one). My 12” long ¼” diameter Snap-on just moves it a tad and flexes. So, if more beef doesn’t rotate the thing I’ll have to take everything apart and clean it.

jvf
 

hskinner

Member
Thanks guys,

I definitely have located the star wheel. It’s at 11:00 on the passenger side (prob 1:00 on the driver’s) and can be seen through the hole of the one bolt I removed from the wheel flange ring. A flat blade screwdriver should do it but shaft length needs to be at least 10” long and ¼” thick but not wide at the tip or it won’t go through the hole (may have to grind the edges if I can’t find one). My 12” long ¼” diameter Snap-on just moves it a tad and flexes. So, if more beef doesn’t rotate the thing I’ll have to take everything apart and clean it.

jvf
It can be to move even with lubrication a long 90 degree pick makes it very easy to rotate by just rotating the handle. I used one from a harbor freight set and made the job pretty easy especially with how awkward the setup of the parking brake shoes is.
 

marklg

Well-known member
It can be to move even with lubrication a long 90 degree pick makes it very easy to rotate by just rotating the handle. I used one from a harbor freight set and made the job pretty easy especially with how awkward the setup of the parking brake shoes is.
I think I found a long thin screwdriver at Lowe's or Home Depot. One where it does not get wider down the blade.

I replaced the springs and adjusters with parts from Europarts SD.

Regards,

Mark

Mark
 

jvf

Member
Hi Guys,

Thanks for keeping the ideas coming. The screwdriver that doesn’t get wider is called a cabinet screwdriver (I knew it had a name). I’m going to look tomorrow at Lowes/Home Bleepo. But, I measured my Snap-on and it’s .237 so I’m thinking 3/8” diameter might be required. I wiggled a 3/8 drill bit in the hole and it had room. Hskinner’s idea of the pick is very promising but there are no Harbor Frights (yes, their tools are frightful) over here on Maui and my only 90 deg picks are for electronic and small work. There’s always Amazon and I could have my buddy in Ca. go over to the local Harbor Fright and send me something. If I don’t find picks or screwdrivers tomorrow I’ll have to put things back together cause I have an upcoming job. Gotta pay for these toys somehow. I’m looking at this as a practice run for getting the beast up in the air. Next time should go quicker.


jvf
 

marklg

Well-known member
I'm pretty sure I used a 1/4" cabinet tip screwdriver. I can't look right now.

I think both stores have them. Looks like 1 available at the Kahului Lowes if that is where you are.

Regards,

Mark
 

jvf

Member
Well, no luck. Lowes had a 6" only. Nothing else anywhere so in desperation I got the long NAPA 3/8" shank and ground it down. I still can't budge the thing so I'll take it all apart in a couple of weeks and loosen everything. The truck grew up in Ohio which means rust everywhere from salting the roads. Earlier I freed up the center lever arrangement and adjusted the cables and was surprised they even attempted to grab. But, they're just barely holding so I have to get to the shoes. It looks like the star wheel is rotated to full "in", maybe to put on the rotor but then they never adjusted it out after that. Meantime, I ordered a 10" Klein cabinet screwdriver w/1/4" tip in case it's a better fit for the job. Thanks to all, I'll post again after cleaning and report on the PITA level of making this adjustment.

jvf
 

marklg

Well-known member
It can be to move even with lubrication a long 90 degree pick makes it very easy to rotate by just rotating the handle. I used one from a harbor freight set and made the job pretty easy especially with how awkward the setup of the parking brake shoes is.
Well, no luck. Lowes had a 6" only. Nothing else anywhere so in desperation I got the long NAPA 3/8" shank and ground it down. I still can't budge the thing so I'll take it all apart in a couple of weeks and loosen everything. The truck grew up in Ohio which means rust everywhere from salting the roads. Earlier I freed up the center lever arrangement and adjusted the cables and was surprised they even attempted to grab. But, they're just barely holding so I have to get to the shoes. It looks like the star wheel is rotated to full "in", maybe to put on the rotor but then they never adjusted it out after that. Meantime, I ordered a 10" Klein cabinet screwdriver w/1/4" tip in case it's a better fit for the job. Thanks to all, I'll post again after cleaning and report on the PITA level of making this adjustment.

jvf
We'll, id suggest you order a replacement set of adjusters and springs from Europarts SD, will ship USPS. I cleaned up the old shoes, as the new ones just didn't fit, but I replaced the rusty springs and adjusters with nice new ones and adjustment took 5 minutes. Comes all greased up so works easily.

Regards,

Mark
 

jvf

Member
That's a great idea and I’ll order them. My original concern was that the pivot point hardware was going to be frozen so the shoes wouldn’t move (or retract). Since they do move some I would consider cleaning them since, if I read the Mopar parts diagram correctly, they’re $20 each. I watched the video where the guy in Chicago cleaned the center lever and took everything apart to clean this bracket/pivot. But, he didn’t show how it came out and back in. I’ve done a thousand drum brake jobs but never had to do one where everything was hidden behind something so I’m slightly nervous about the whole operation.

jvf
 

marklg

Well-known member
The pivot point and cable hardware was fine. I cleaned it up and put some brake grease on the sliding parts. It's not too bad once you get the rotors off, which was a real pain. I built a custom puller, but it seems you have more to grab onto with the dually.

Regards,

Mark
 

jvf

Member
Hi Mark,

Thanks for the encouraging words. I thought you had a dually. If not, the following question might not apply to you. It occurred to me that if you aren't changing rotors, the wheel flanges could stay on. Is this true? If so, it would save another dozen hard to get off (and torque back on) bolts. I'm pretty strong but don't have much mass so pushing down on the torque wrench to get to 150 ft. lbs. is almost impossible. I try to arrange for lifting up instead.

Getting the brake drums off (rotors for us) with stuck shoes is truly a herculean task. Mine came off easily when I changed the rotors last year so hopefully I'm OK there. As I mentioned, I just wish I'd been paying attention and I'd have done all of this e-brake tuning up the first time. I do have an interesting story about easily getting off the lug nuts which I will share later.

jvf
 

marklg

Well-known member
Hi Mark,

Thanks for the encouraging words. I thought you had a dually. If not, the following question might not apply to you. It occurred to me that if you aren't changing rotors, the wheel flanges could stay on. Is this true? If so, it would save another dozen hard to get off (and torque back on) bolts. I'm pretty strong but don't have much mass so pushing down on the torque wrench to get to 150 ft. lbs. is almost impossible. I try to arrange for lifting up instead.

Getting the brake drums off (rotors for us) with stuck shoes is truly a herculean task. Mine came off easily when I changed the rotors last year so hopefully I'm OK there. As I mentioned, I just wish I'd been paying attention and I'd have done all of this e-brake tuning up the first time. I do have an interesting story about easily getting off the lug nuts which I will share later.

jvf

I don't have a dually, so can't help there. I bought an electric impact wrench:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07255QCN4

and it is the best tool I have gotten in a long time. Every bolt came off like butter, lug nuts, every brake and rotor bolt and slide. There was never a hint of stripping them out either. It seems to slowly ramp up the torque, but maybe that is my imagination.

It has too much torque to put them back on, so used Harbor Freight click type torque wrenches for that. The lug nuts are 140 ft-lbs and it is hard to get them back on with force at the right angle. The torque wrenches were on sale for an absurd price. Too bad you don't have any near you.

I also got 6 ton jackstands and a big floor jack from Napa. They were pricey, but I did not want to take any chances under an 8500 lb vehicle. I was all the way under there to adjust the brake cables. Even with all the tools and buying good parts ( Zimmerman coated rotors, Myle and Pagid pads ) , I saved a bunch over having someone else do the work. I did all four wheels and don't want to worry about it for another 50k miles.

Best of luck,

Mark
 

jvf

Member
Hi Mark,

I passed my safety check so have postponed taking everything apart while I finish some jobs and do a short travel thing. I have a Craftsman torque wrench so can grunt my way through the process. I also went to NAPA and got the 6 ton floor jacks. But, I can’t get high enough (yet) so am using some wood blocks. Can’t remember if I posted about it but I bought a 20 ton bottle jack and some chain from Home Bleepo. However, there isn’t room to put the jack and jackstand under the axle at the same time. Nuts. So, I chained the axle to the frame and managed to get the back wheels off the ground.

As to my lug nut removal: I also have an electric impact. It’s the Milwaukee 28volt and a beast. I have almost all of the 28v tools. I bought it as a kit thinking it was one of those small screwdriver impacts. Boy was I surprised when I pulled out that thing out of the box! First thing I did was loosen the lug nuts on my friend’s car parked but with a flat. Yay! But, after several successful lug nut removal’s, I tried to help a contractor friend get a wheel off a work pickup but I couldn’t get them loose. Very disappointing. So, I wasn’t surprised when it wouldn’t get the lugs off this dually Sprinter.

Fast forward to recently when I tried to remove the crankshaft pulley on my nephew’s project civic (this time around dad turned it into Stanley Steamer so we’re replacing the head). I knew it would be a b**ch. The impact wouldn’t budge it so we got my pneumatic impact and his dad’s compressor but still no luck. After breaking a cheap Craftsman extension and bending a cheater bar I came across a video describing the mother of all impact sockets. It was a ginormous 19mm impact socket weighing almost two pounds. It’s described as a “torque multiplier”. Our socket was 17mm so I got it and it worked! I got the 19mm (Lisle 77080) for the Sprinter (and other lugs) and it also worked. So, I’m set for when I try this again to get to the inner parts.


jvf
 

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