Hi ,
I am tempted to give you a hard time about using 'all new parts.'

I would *never* do that !
I replace worn and tired parts, and keep all the ( often original and
perfectly good ) serviceable parts.

on the adjuster bar and  wheel...
first ...I have never seen anything wrong with a used one ...( on a
hundred vanagon rear brake repair jobs ) ...heck, if was hired to
straighten this out, I'll probably put the original ones back in, AFTER
looking at a working vanagon to see which way they go in there.

Are the threaded rods on the correct side of the van ??????
the bars fit in two ways ...you'll notice at the end where the ratchet
lever is ..the flat end of the bar is wider on one side of the notch
than the other.  Only one way is correct as far as I know.
you can barely see that in Bentley.

'what you coulda/shoulda' done is just do your worst side with 'all new
parts' ...until you had it working really right ..that way you could
look at the untouched side to make sure you got your new side together
correctly.

really man ..I can't say it enough ..
replacing Too Many parts at once easily leads to problems.
I speciallize in doing 'just the right' thing ..

I also don't have a goal of 'i don't want to look in these rear brakes
for at least 5 years ' ..
it's fine with me if I do say shoes and wheel cylinders and check
roundness of the drums ..
and get a year or so out of it.
I think it's good to work on things now and then, as that keeps things
from getting rusted and stuck ..
keeps you inspecting things etc.
Racing cars and motorcyclies are worked on constatnly, like before every
weekend ..
don't take things apart Too Many times...but 'some' is good for things.

'something' must not be right it would seem ..
incorrectly installed part, parts that are not truly correct, etc.
I don't think I've ever had the kind of problem you're discribing ..
but then I don't replace EveryThing either ...just the parts that need
to be replaced.

let us know what you find.
I'll look at those adjusting bars ultra, ultra carefully ..even put the
old ones back in.
you don't have to remove the shoes to 'sneak' other parts in ..like that
bar or even wheel cylinders.

good luck.
S.

On 05/19/2016 09:01 PM, Neil N wrote:
> Hi all. Sorry for the long post but this is very frustrating.
>
> I've replaced nearly every part in my rear brakes. The shoes are so
> close to the drums,
> I have to leave the adjuster bar **slightly** slack. I've adjusted the
> shoes and e-brake at
> least several times now. This last time, with the new adjuster bars
> installed, I left my garage,
> drove a short distance, felt drums. They were cool. Drove more, parked
> on a *steep* hill, set e-brake really tight, released it, then drove
> away up hills for a while, parked in my driveway, the drums were hot.
> This did not make sense. This happened before. At that time my
> infrared gun showed drums being 100º F but they felt hotter.
>
> Theory: setting e-brake pushes shoes closer to drum than foot pressure
> on pedal during
> normal driving, which in turn allows the adjuster to adjust shoes too
> close to drums
> which causes the drums to heat up even when brakes aren't being used.
> With my foot on
> the brake pedal while setting the e-brake, I feel the pedal drop very
> very slightly. I know this means the shoes aren't adjusted properly
> but the pedal  height is ok and if I adjust the shoes
> any closer, they drag, causing the drums to heat up when brakes not in use.
>
> New parts:
> - backing plates
> - e-brake cables
> - shoes, drums, hardware
> - adjuster bar and wheel
>
> Do I
>
> - not use e-brake until shoes have worn down
> - back off e-brake adjustment (there is a ~ 1/16" gap between e-brake
> lever and adjuster
> bar)
> - remove material from shoes
> - turn drums
> - not worry, leave things as-is
>
> If I leave things as-is, I feel like I'm ruining the drums and shoes
> but there seems to be
> no recourse!
>
> Thanks,
>
> Neil.
>
>