Jeff,

I don't know about vanagons per se (have changed and adjusted rear
shoes but never had a problem with them) but I have adjusted the rear
(and front) drums on dozens of other cars in my life: crank the shoes
down just til you can't turn the drums by hand. Then back off til you
can. Drive a few mile and check for drag (just jack the wheel and
rotate, you'll hear if there's drag) before going on a long trip.

If this isn't working for you, then the problem probably isn't with
your adjustment mechanism.

Jim

On Apr 15, 2004, at 2:12 AM, Jeff Oxroad wrote:

> Have we agreed on a system for adjusting the rear brakes? Turn the star
> adjuster until wheel can't be turned by hand then back off (loosen) 8
> clicks, 10
> clicks, 15 clicks?
>
> Bentley offers nothing except to say when installing new brakes
> "Depress the
> pedal several times before driving so that rear brakes self adjust."
> OK. Then
> how about I depress the gas pedal several times to adjust the timing.
>
> My self adjusters don't work. And they never will. And believe me it
> has me
> AND the brake pedal sufficiantly depressed with little or no
> improvement to the
> braking.
>
> I checked the archives and found discussion on adjusting but didn't
> find any
> numbers as far as to specifically how how much to tighten then how
> much to
> loosen.
>
> Any info. appreciated.
> Thanks
> Jeff
> 83.5 Westfalia
> LA,CA
>