A silly question and urgent need of brake reassembly help

When the repair manual says "left", is it talking about the driver's side or the passenger side?

Also, I spent the day replacing, on my '75 CJ5, the wheel cylinder, brake hose, and shoes (front, passenger side brakes), but, when I put the bottom adjuster screw in, I can't get the doggone drum on over the shoes. What am I doing wrong? My wife is about to make me have the thing towed to the shop which would be a huge blow to my masculinity.

Any suggestions you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

Left is the driver's side in the USA. Left hand side and right hand side as you sit in the driver's seat.

The adjuster cable always goes to the rear. The lever should climb the self adjuster screw when you push on the cable. When released. the lever should tighten (lengthen) the self-adjuster screws. The R adjuster goes on the right side and L on the left.

I presume that the adjuster is run all the way in. If the adjuster is maximally short and the drum won't go on, you put something together wrong.

You need to adjust the shoes before you install the drums. A brake shoe caliper is a very useful tool - it transfers the drum diameter to the shoe adjustment. K-D 3377 http://www.amazon.com/Danaher-Tool-Group-KDS3377-Resetting/dp/tech-data/B0002SQUJ0 With this tool, you can get the shoes close enough that the self-adjusters will finish the adjustments. Back up slowly and apply the brakes to activate the self-adjusters.

 

Timgr -

I bought a set of brake shoes (four shoes) to re-do both sides of the front end. Are all four shoes identical? That could be where I made my mistake.

 

They are all the same diameter. The only difference between front and rear is the length of the linings.

 

To add what Timgr said the longer lining goes to the rear of the vehicle (secondary shoe) and shorter lining goes towards the front of the vehicle (primary shoe). Sounds like you may have both primaries on one side and secondaries on the other, or the shoes are not centered. They can move up and down somewhat keeping the drum from going on. If this is the rear also make sure the park brake cable is released all the way or it can hold the shoes expanded out.

 

some reference pics.

 

Everyone -

You were all a terrific help to me on this one. Timgr, you were right that the brakes were incorrectly reassembled, thus casusing the drums not to fit. DREDnot, your photos showed me the adjuster screw was in the wrong place. I placed it correctly had had the brakes reassembled in about ten minutes.

Thank you all again for your help. There's no question in my mind I'll be back on her within the next couple of weeks looking for more answers.