I was told that you can put your car in reverse and drive backward at about 20 mph and slam on the brakes and this would ajust your back brakes. Is this true?
2007-01-24 07:22:39 · 43 answers · asked by sunshine_rae 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
He is partly right. If your car has rear drum brakes, there is something called a self-adjuster that adjusts your brake shoes if you just put them on. To do this, you don't slam on the brakes in reverse, but instead drive in reverse at about 10-15 mph and pump the brakes.
2007-01-24 07:55:47 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
This is no longer true, but it used to be.
Years ago automobiles were equipped with "drum" style brakes. This type of braking system required adjustment. Then the auto manufactures came up with "Auto-adjusting" brakes. This type of system adjusted the brakes every time you drove your car in reverse and stopped. However there was no speed requirement.
Now let's fast forward 30 years to this new century we're all living in.
Cars are pretty much all equipped with disc brakes. This type of system does not need adjusting. The brake fluid in your "Master cylinder" keeps pressure on the "Brake calipers" but not so much as to wear out the brake pads.
I hope this answers your question.
Now I am wondering why you think the brakes need adjusted?
Are they "Squeaking"? Do they not work properly?
Make sure fluid levels are where they should be. If not, you probably have a leak and this problem needs to be addressed immediately by a trained mechanic.
2007-01-25 02:03:35 · answer #2 · answered by GrannyLow 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
SORT OF but they were a bit xtreem..
Find a parking lot that is empty @ about 5 or 10 mph repeatedly mash the brakes or pump them as some would say... the adjusters in drum brake cars adjust 1 or both of 2 ways braking in reverse or using the parking brake... they will nevre adjust if you nevr use the park brake or never brake in reverse
NOW rear disc brakes are a diff story
2007-01-24 07:27:59 · answer #3 · answered by Dan the car man 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cars with drum brakes used to work like that. There was a self-adjusting mechanism that would take the slack out of the brake shoes when you stopped in reverse. You would back up and stop several times to adjust your brakes. Cars with disc brakes do not do this.
2007-01-24 10:58:29 · answer #4 · answered by electron670 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
in cars with rear drum brakes, that procedure will cause the automatic adjuster to ratchet up one notch at a time, you do not have to slam them on, as the act of putting on your brakes while backing up is the way the adjuster was designed to work.
unfortunately some people can go lifetimes without ever really doing a lot of reversing, and then when they do it's on the cautious side and the brakes do not get applied enough to get the adjuster's attention
2007-01-24 09:48:07 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off it depends on what type of car you drive. If your vehicle has rear brake drums they do adjust when you brake while going in reverse ( you don't need to be doing 20mph any speed will do ) however most rear brake disc vehicles adjust by using the parking brake ( if you've never used the park brake have a shop check it first otherwise it could freeze with the park brake applied)
2007-01-24 08:31:31 · answer #6 · answered by uniroyalfan 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
after you change your rear brake pads you should put the car in reverse and step on the brakes quickly after going backwards. 20 mph is a little fast??? Most people do this once in a while anyway. your at the supermarket and you back up and a car comes speeding by you jamb on your brakes. Look in your vehicles owners manual, it might be different for newer cars.
2007-01-24 08:28:33 · answer #7 · answered by ALunaticFriend 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. This is indeed true. Drum brakes have an automatic adjuster that is supposed to help adjust the shoes against the drum during the times that you would normally back up and stop (like when parking). Sometimes the drum brakes get so far out of adjustment that they need a bit more agressive adjustment to get the distance of the shoes caught up with the surface of the drum.
2007-01-24 07:33:08 · answer #8 · answered by Joe K 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depending oon the vehicel, YES, some rear-drum setups use brake application during reverrse travel to rotate an adjuster. Some other systems use applcation of the hand/park brake to adjust the rear brakes. Those could be drum or disc type rear brakes.
2007-01-24 07:34:36 · answer #9 · answered by ; - } 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you have drum brakes, it's kinda true...
what you do, is back up and pump the brakes.. the way you describe is dangerous... back up for about 20 or 30 feet, pumping the brakes the entire time... this only works if you have drum brakes on the rear.
there IS such a thing
2007-01-24 07:26:46 · answer #10 · answered by bilko_ca 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋