Hose length plays a big role there. I try and keep it short enough that one pump of the pedal will fill the line, and push some out, but long enough to reach the container where I can see it. Most of the time though, I grab a convenient warm body to help. I have had my 11 year old grand daughter pumping brakes for me. She thinks its a hoot.

 

...And that is why I do the IV bag method. Any air bubble goes up, fluid goes down.

 

Youtube it. There is no suction for the air to come back in, btw. If the end of the hose should be exposed to air, the bubble would only rise due to air being lighter than liquid, not because there is suction. If the tube is submerged in fluid and the end on the bleed nipple is tight, air can't travel back. Like having a straw in a cup of water and the bottom of the straw is submerged, you can't suck air until the liquid runs out. If there is a bubble near the valve it can only travel one direction and that's out. That means you need to pump the brake more, till you see the bubbles stop expelling. All you need is the length of hose from the nipple, down to the bottom of the bottle sitting on the ground. Anyway, my last post on that. LOL

 

So it was the wheel cylinders all along.

I just finished changing the rear center brake hose and everything at the rear wheels - new drums, shoes, wheel cylinders, complete hardware kit... And bleed the brakes... Everything seems to be functioning well... Even feel I have a slightly firmer pedal...

QQ: I adjusted the shoe adjusters so that the drums could be pushed over them by hand... No need to 'hammer' them on with palms... So you can spin the rear wheels by hand but you feel some drag...

So I took it for a test drive and could feel some drag... Only went a couple miles... Brakes are smoking a bit and there's a nice nasty brake smell...

Any need for concern or is this just the "normal" brake in? Don't recall smoking/smelly brakes when changing shoes in the past but it's been infrequent and I don't recall manually adjusting the shoes so they touched the drums initially... Guess I relied on the adjusters to do their job... But since I'd read here where it was a good idea to pre-adjust so they were slightly touching the drums I decided to do that...

 

I've got a caliper gauge to pre-adjust the shoes. A hot drum and smell is NOT normal. You have something that's causing it to be too tight. A mis-installed part, drums that were too thick on the braking surface or something else stuck in there. My first thing to look for would be the shoes inserted properly on the brake applicator rod. That's the flat thingie (<---fancy technical term) your brake cable uses to engage the park brake. With the exception of too much meat on the drum, in which case it just needs to be turned slightly, it will be something simple. Maybe your park brake is partly on.

 

What grouch said

 

Thanks - I think I made two errors... first I didn't clean the inside surface of the new drums... after watching a few videos on youtube I now understand they come with oil on them so they don't rust... I should have removed that before installation (this is first time using new drums when changing shoes)... second I spread the new shoes a bit too much as they are more than just 'lightly touching'... so they're dragging more than they should and they're smoking more than they should due to the oil I didn't clean off... I'll correct these two issues and I'm sure that will resolve my issue...

 

Well, if you've never made a mistake, you've never made a discovery. I've made lots of discoveries through the years. Many years ago, I actually saw a brake drum catch fire due to oiled drums.

 

Yeah. First thing you want do when doing a brake job, is get a can or two of brake cleaner spray. Spray everything down before you even touch it, otherwise you'll be inhaling brake dust as you work and that's some baaad stuff for the lungs. Matter of fact, it's a great time to wear a mask too. Same thing goes for new rotors and the oil that comes on them, spray it all down in an oil tub. I also use a toothbrush to apply brake lube on and under the steel spring clips where they contact the pad/shoe ears and sometimes that gets on the rotors, so even when it's all done, I hit it with another shot of brake clean. It's also good to lube (I use grease here) around where the rotor/drum bore will make contact with the hub. Aids with seating/removal and prevents rust buildup that can throw off your wheel being true. Hit it with a wire brush first if it looks bad. As for the slide pins. I like to pack them really good with lube. Enough to last two brake changes, if I get lazy next time. I know this sounds crazy for any Durango/Dakota in our gen, but my brakes feel great. I've got some high carbon slotted rotors (front and rear) that Amazon screwed up on and gave me real cheap. LOL

 

Greasy finger prints too! I worked on a car that the owner had replaced the pads, rotors and calipers on both sides. He cleaned the rotors before he put them on but got greasy finger prints all over them. It felt like warped rotors but it just took a shot of brake cleaner. Get Chlorine free if you can.