No self adjusters.

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Bills65Dart

Bills65Dart

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Hi,

I have discovered that my 1965 Dodge Dart does not have any self adjusters on the brakes. All the parts that you get in a self adjuster repair kit is gone, well, except the adjuster screw of course. There is no trace whatsoever that it has every had self adjusters.

Can I just buy a self adjuster kit and put in, if I want it ? I mean, will all the other parts be ok for that ?

The front brakes were so tightly adjusted that they go warm and smell when driving.


Bill
 
A lot of old mopars had manual adjusters, or all till they made automatic adjusters. Not sure what year mid 60's somewhere I think.
I'm sure someone knows for sure.
 
brian6pac said:
A lot of old mopars had manual adjusters, or all till they made automatic adjusters. Not sure what year mid 60's somewhere I think.
I'm sure someone knows for sure.
Click to expand...

The Dart I had in the 80ties had self adjusters, which worked fine. I just wondered if the other parts are made in such a way that the self adjuster kit can be fitted without any peculiar issues. Or if it was, once manual adjusters, always manual adjusters...


Bill
 
You can switch them over no problem, you have to change the adjusters the teeth on them are bigger for the manual adjusters
 
Many people through the years in the Mopar world, the G M world, and the Ford world -- have changed from manual adjusters (they are a pain in the tushy)
to self - adjusters ( a lot less work!!)
9" (6 cyl.) and 10" (8 cyl.) are very different....

I have both brand new if you would like....
Yours, Craig
 
It's a easy fix just change the parts, no harder than changing the shoes.
 
My 66 should be the same setup as your 65. I had the same problem, took the brakes apart so see why it wouldn't stop for crap, and found only one self adjuster. The other three positions were just plain gone. According to my FSM they were supposed to be there so I wound up replacing the one adjuster I had and added the other three. Now that the wheel cylinders and master cylinder are replaced, the car actually stops! It's a beautiful thing. :)
 
halfafish said:
My 66 should be the same setup as your 65. I had the same problem, took the brakes apart so see why it wouldn't stop for crap, and found only one self adjuster. The other three positions were just plain gone. According to my FSM they were supposed to be there so I wound up replacing the one adjuster I had and added the other three. Now that the wheel cylinders and master cylinder are replaced, the car actually stops! It's a beautiful thing. :)
Click to expand...

Well, sounds to me like your car had the self adjusters from the factory, but that someone took 3 of them off. My brakes has been replaced fairly recently, new cylinders, shoes, everything but that someone forgot to get new self adjusters and ended up tossing the old ones. My problem is not weak brakes, mine was so tightly adjusted in the front that they smokes when driving a little bit. Now I have backed them off manually and can live with that for now. When I get back to that I know I can just get new ones and put on.
 
I got the adjusters at O'Reilly's, I think they were less than $10 per wheel.
 
Bills65Dart said:
Well, sounds to me like your car had the self adjusters from the factory, but that someone took 3 of them off. My brakes has been replaced fairly recently, new cylinders, shoes, everything but that someone forgot to get new self adjusters and ended up tossing the old ones. My problem is not weak brakes, mine was so tightly adjusted in the front that they smokes when driving a little bit. Now I have backed them off manually and can live with that for now. When I get back to that I know I can just get new ones and put on.
Click to expand...
Be aware that the self-adjusting mechanisms were changed with the '69 Model Year.
This included reversing the thread on the adjuster mechanism.
A lot of box stores don't have this info and will accidently sell you the wrong parts.

Self-Adjusters up through '68 MY push down.
upload_2019-8-14_8-26-48.png


Self Adjusters starting with the 1969 Model lever pushes up.
upload_2019-8-14_8-19-14.png

Also note that for these, the frame of the rear shoe has a pin.
Correct shoes for pre-'69 brakes can not be used with the '69 up self adjusters.
(1968 shoes have contact point tabs but are otherwise the same as earlier shoes.)
 
Last edited:
I have all the self-adjusters, cables, cable guides, etc., etc. ---
And all correctly marked -- to 1968;
And 1969 & up.

They are VERY VERY different, as Mattax pointed out.
To all, yours, Craig.....
 
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