How to Adjust Geo Tracker Brake Shoes

The rear drum brake shoes in your GEO Tracker provide stopping power to the rear wheels as well as parking brake function. When the brake shoes are out of adjustment the brake pedal will feel low and the parking brake may not hold the vehicle. Properly adjusting the brake shoes will restore pedal height and parking brake function. This procedure can be completed by the average home auto repair enthusiast in about an hour.

Instructions

1

Park the Tracker on level ground and secure the front wheels with wheel chocks. Raise the rear of the vehicle with a floor jack positioned under the rear differential. Support the GEO by lower it onto jack stands positioned under the axle tubes. Release the parking brake and remove the rear wheels using a lug wrench.

2

Slide the drums off the brake shoes and lay it on the ground with the friction surface facing up. Set the adjusting gauge to the inside diameter of the drum by loosening the thumbscrew in the center of the gauge and expanding against the inside of the drum. Tighten the thumbscrew and remove it from the drum.

3

Adjust the brake shoes until the adjusting gauge drags on them as it is passed over them. Use a small screwdriver to rotate the Tracker's adjuster cam, built into the parking brake spreader bar, located between the brake shoes below the wheel cylinder. Slip the drum over the shoes. Readjust as needed until the drum drags on the shoes slightly when it is turned. Repeat for the remaining side.

4

Reinstall the wheels and tighten the lug nuts securely. Raise the vehicle off the jack stands using the floor jack and remove the stands. Lower the GEO to the ground and torque the lug nuts to 80 ft-lbs using a torque wrench. Test drive to verify the brakes work properly and the parking brake holds.