I just replaced drums, pads, springs, and wheel cylinders on my 2001 cavalier. I had to turn the star wheels all the way in on both sides just to get the drums on and theyre pretty tight. After i drive it for a little while the auto adjusters turn the star wheels out even more! until the drums get so hot they start to grab going down the road without the brake pressed at all. i read somewhere online that the ebrake might have auto tightened too much with the old worn out hardware still on there and that I need to adjust the ebrake cable to loosen them up some. But everything says you cant adjust the cable as it auto adjusts. Has anybody had this problem when replacing old worn out rear drum brakes?
thanks
I just replaced my drums and shoes on my 2002 cavalier. My adjuster needs to be out more then in for the brakes to work properly. Did you possibly get the wrong pads? there is 200mm drums and 225mm drums. you could have gotten the wrong size shoes for the drums which is causing this to happen.
I swear i put them next to the old ones to compare and they seemed identical.
The only other thing i can think of.. you did not put the springs back on properly. Something is not set right which is causing this to happen. My advice would be to take it apart and check to make sure everything is connected where it should be. 1 misplaced component will throw everything off.