Measure the inside of drum and the outside of shoes. Adjust to get pretty close. Install drum and tighten to barely rub and back off slightly.

Self adjusters are not very reliable and are only designed to maintain adjustment.

 

i would adjust them manually the first time. i like to adjust up tight, then back off to get easy rotation, ignoring any very slight scrape, but don't ignore a heavy scrape, if that makes sense.

tips.
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...-pictures.html

http://dodgeram.org/tech/repair/Brakes/brake_job.htm

 

+1... Adjust them tight at first, this will center the shoes, then back off on the adjuster until there is just a little resistance.

 

thanks for the help guys another project completed with the help our dodge ruys library. everything went smoothe even got the e-brake working properly again with out snapping tha cable. the next project for this week is my wifes 01 stratus lower ball joints....ever done those anyone??

 

i did ball joints on the wife's explorer about 3 weeks ago.
here's several tips:

if you plan to keep the vehicle, and if possible, get Moog parts. order from rockauto or amazon for about half the price of local parts store.

don't get the ball joint press from autozone. it only has 3 cups: small, med, large. when installing mine, i needed 2 med cups. no personal experience but i hear the advanceauto kit is better.

to remove the old, i supported the control arm with a floor jack, and bashed out the the old with a 3# sledge in about 5 whacks.

to install the new, i put a cup under the bottom, and placed on jack. then using a 2x2 and sledge, bashed down on the control arm to seat it around the ball joint.