How does the 2028 Versa rear brake adjuster work?

[Rdsrds123]

Hi, my bought new Versa S 5-speed now has 96,000 miles. Amazing how miles fly. Anyway, it is getting close to the time to get new brake shoes, and I have some questions repair manuals don't seem to cover.

First, only the shoes on one side are getting low on lining. The other side is still great. But got to change them all soon.

Do I need new wheel cylinders? I plan on keeping the car, so would need them to last to 200k miles.

I removed the drums and looked the job over, then replaced the drums. Looks straight forward to replace the shoes, even quite easy. But that adjuster is something new to me. How does it work? Is it easy to adjust to make room for the new linings? How do you do that???

When I have the new shoes installed how do I adjust the adjuster to fit close so I can reinstall the drum? Really really cool that all you do for ths final adjustment is to drive forward and stop, repeat repeat repeat The drum itself is rather impressive to me. Has a wheel bearing and is quite heavy. Expensive to replace, no doubt, need to press in new lugs. Wow! Not happy one shoe wore uneven causing replacement of all the shoes early. Thanks!

[VStar650CL]

When shoes wear on one side of the car like that, the usual culprit is a hung or stiff star wheel adjuster on the less-worn side. The star wheels are supposed to ratchet automatically when you use the parking brake or back up, but they need to be able to turn very freely in order to operate. They shouldn't be lubricated, because even grease on the threads can be enough to prevent the ratchet from ratcheting. The other possibility is your parking brake cable, if it's hung or stiff on one side then the shoes on that side will wear prematurely.

[Rdsrds123]

Ok, thanks. By the way, it's a 2018 Versa, and I can't proof read very well.

But how do I adjust it to accommodate new shoes? I mean, it is probably pretty easy to do, but I'd like to know before I take the brakes apart. Brakes do not need immediate attention but somewhat soon. I will prolly do them next month.

[VStar650CL]

The N17 Versa and B17 Sentra drums are kind of a PITA because they don't give you a service slot to work the star wheel. So cutting or ridge-reaming the drums is pretty much required in order to get the shoes reasonably tight before you button up. Run the star wheel down to the bottom and slide the drum onto the axle without bolting it up, then hit the brake pedal to center the shoes. Then run the star wheel out until the drum is scraping on the shoes when you test fit it. Repeat as necessary till you get the shoes scraping but not dragging. Button up and then go around the parking lot in reverse a few times.

[Rdsrds123]

How do you cut or ridge ream the drum?

[Rdsrds123]

Rock auto parts sells an adjuster repair kit. I will get one.

[VStar650CL]

How do you cut or ridge ream the drum?

With a brake lathe. The parts store can do it for you. There's always a "lip" of rust and unworn metal at the inside edge of the drum where the shoes don't make contact, and that makes it impossible to get the adjustment right and still be able to remove and install the drum. Ridge reaming means you leave the swept area of the drum alone and just remove the lip, cutting means you remove some metal all the way across the inside surface. Of course, you can always just sand the lip to remove the rust and then expand the adjuster as far as the lip allows, then just back up a lot until the star wheels do their thing.

[Rdsrds123]

Ordered complete brake parts from Rock Auto. Forgot the discount code!

Got all Raybestos stuff. That way I only had one shipping location. $7.99 UPS shipping for shoes, pads, wheel cylinders, springs, adjusters. $140 total in the driveway. Drums are good, will rough up a bit. Priced AutoZone. Would have been about $210.

I will change these parts out early. Never done that before, but the rear brakes are worn on one corner. Drums are an expensive proposition, so I avoid going with new ones this way. Drums require a new bearing and press out/in four lugs.

[Rdsrds123]

Actually, forgot to price the adjusters at AutoZone. They would have been about $40, or $250 total parts plus brake clean, lube, fluid($30.) Sheesh, auto parts have gone way up recently. Anyway, having a shop do all four wheel for brakes would be $1000. I'm getting off easy doing it myself, so I don't mind doing the rears a few miles early.

[VStar650CL]

Sheesh, auto parts have gone way up recently

You're sure right about that. Seems like here at the dealership, Nissan wants $25 for anything more complicated than a lug nut and $400+ for anything that even smells like a control unit. I get that there's a lot of overhead in diverting OE supply chains which aftermarket producers don't contend with, but... damn.