ok so the holes that you're suppose to thread bolts into to push the drum off with are totally stripped out and i can't retap the, what should i do to get the drums off?

I use a BFH and some penetrating oil.....hit one side and then the other until it bounces off. Some of them take some time to get off.

Drum brakes often wear a "groove" in the drums - so that there is a slight ridge on the edge of the drum that prevents the drum from coming off - you may need to completely "retract" the adjustment until the shoes clear the ridge.

Also make sure the handbrake is released.

how exactly do you retract the adjustment? this is a 2000 chevy tracker

This is a guess on my part - based on the very common adjuster design that is used on (among other vehicles) the Suzuki Samurai.  There is an 80 percent chance that the 2000 Tracker has the same system...


You should find an oblong rubber plug on the back face of the brake housing - opposite from the tire side.  Remove that plug and use an adjuster tool - or a wide-bladed screwdriver - turn the adjuster wheel inside the brake housing.  Turning the adjuster wheel one direction will cause the brake shoes to move towards the drum. Turning it the other direction will pull the shoes away from the drum.

The adjuster wheel looks like a very thin gear.  You push the adjuster tool/screw driver into a tooth notch on the adjuster wheel and push up or down to move the brake shoes in or out.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/brakes/brake-types/drum-brake2.htm

I hope that this helps!

You are so screwed the self adjusters are on the inside of drum there is no external hole or adjustment. I don't know of any way to get drum off. You can try and get a bottom tap and drill new holes and tap about 3/16" in and undercut tip of bolt to allow for how far you drilled into hub. The ID of the drum is really tight to the hub plus the rust and Wala it's stuck. I think the hub is 3/8 to 1/2" thick good luck.

Bill S.

You are so screwed the self adjusters are on the inside of drum there is no external hole or adjustment. I don't know of any way to get drum off.

Oh Contraire, Bill S...

Take a look at this document from the '96 Tracker Factory Service Manual - Section 5C Leading/Trailing Drum Brakes:

http://www.acksfaq.com/96-FSM-v1-5C-pdf.htm

My apologies for not mentioning this link in my first post.

Generally speaking, very little changed from year to year in the Suzuki Sidekick/Geo Tracker.  I believe that the braking system fits into that category.

The above link along with the rest of the '96Tracker Factory Service Manual can be found at Ack's FAQ (see link in signature, below).

Do a search for Tracker factory service manual.

I hope that this helps!

I thought pretty much all newer (2000 +) drum brakes used an eccentric cam positioned in between both shoes, about 2 inches from the top.  I only have experience working on cars, but they are mostly that way post 2000, I think its called double servo, or dual servo style, cant remember.  Dunno about the trackers, your prob right ack, but figured Id pipe up, that way I can see if I was right....lol or wrong

Quote from: Bill S on September 15, 2009, 03:01:59 PM

You are so screwed the self adjusters are on the inside of drum there is no external hole or adjustment. I don't know of any way to get drum off.

Oh Contraire, Bill S...

He may be right Ack.

I just had a look under the back of my 99GV and there are no access holes - it's also not documented in the FSM.

However - what the FSM does tell you to do is to lift the back of the hand brake cover and loosen the ajustment locknut - so that is where the adjustment has to be released.

Oh for goodness' sake, don't sweat the adjustment.  If the shoes get stuck inside the drums, they'll fold outward and detach themselves as you pull off the drum.  As long as you can turn the drum (meaning the parking brake is off and there's no tension), everything will disassemble and fall out and/or dangle when you pull the drum.  It'll just take a little bit more effort (not much!).

The only hard part you're facing is getting that drum unstuck.  Soak some penetrating oil inside the stripped-out pull holes, then use a lot of small taps with a big hammer arount the backside rim of the drum after several hours.

You might also try cranking some slightly larger bolts or a rethreading-tap into those holes.

Well gentleman I own a 2000 4x4 4 door tracker and there are no self adjuster holes. And as I said you'll probably have to drill and tap 2 new holes because I have never had them come off without a fight.

Bill S

Prob gonna have to pry it off, or get a long tool to put on the backside of the drum, then get positioned in aplace near the back of the vehicle where you can hammer the tool on both sides back and forth of the drum, usually there is a lip on the back of the drum where you can tap it and get it to slide off, your not really going to break anything that I can think of, I mean the worst thats gonna happen is, you will rip some friction material off the shoes, but your replacing them anyway.

so i managed to get them off.  i used a lot of PB Blaster, a dead blow mallet, and a lot of blows.  i hate doing drum brakes now!!!

I see you have this resolved, but I'll put my .02 in anyway.

For the older setups (95 and older) you could take the 4 nuts off the studs that are in the center of the axle, then bolt the tire and wheel assembly back on the brake drum, then take a sledge hammer and smack the inside edge of the tire (NOT the wheel), at different places around the tire and it would pop the drum off.
But yours is different, because the wheel studs are pressed into the axle flange, not the brake drum (like on the older trackicks).  So either using the bolts in the drum holes or the method you had to resort to, are really the only options.