Like the title says, have you adjusted the drum brakes?

When swapping winter tires to factory 3-seasons today, one of the drums practically fell onto my foot. So it came off, out came a flat-head screwdriver, and the adjuster's star wheel started clicking. There's only 1 way to make it click, aka pushing down on the wheel. I adjusted by 2 clicks, then fit the drum back on to test for drag. Both sides were adjusted to maintain braking consistency. The driver's side took 15 clicks of the anti-reverse mechanism, while the passenger took 17 clicks. This was enough to have the shoes very lightly dragging on the drum. There's enough drag to hear, and stop the wheel after two rotations. Any more than that, and the fuel economy would be very negatively affected.

The other drum was rusted to the hub. A few smacks around the outside of the hub with a hammer persuaded the recalcitrant drum to come off. The hub face and inside of each drum where it touches the hub got dolled up with a very light coating of anti-seize so they keep coming off easily for the next brake adjustment.

There will be a little more wear on the shoes from all this. It's not enough to be of concern until much higher mileage. As a bonus, the drums will be taking a bit more of the braking load from the pads/rotors, making them last a little longer.

 

Every drum brake that I have seen in the last 40 years has been self adjusting. Without even looking or researching I would bet money that the Fit's drums must be self adjusting as well.

If your drums were that far out of adjustment then either your self adjusting mechanism was seized up or you don't do enough braking while driving in reverse. That is typically how drum brakes self adjust. Go to an open parking lot and do some repetitive braking while backing up.

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That may be, but in practice they don't self-adjust very well.



Especially when new, I frequently adjust the rear brakes. (This assures that the shoes wear-in properly to the contour of the drum.) You would be surprised how quick the Fit stops when the rear brakes are doing a share of the work!

One time I adjusted the rear drum brakes on a friend's Civic. It took him two weeks to get used to the increased braking power.

 

i call bullshit. total placebo effect. the rear brakes do about 10% of the work, if that.

 

That's your opinion....



With the rear drums adjusted, pedal feel is much better...firmness is reached when both the front calipers and the rear cylinders are no longer moving.

True, if you stomped on the brakes, having the rears adjusted up will not offer better total stopping power. But in street driving, you really can FEEL the difference when the rear brakes are doing their 10% "on time".

Adjusting the rear brakes does the same for you as installing stainless steel brake lines. Better "feel" and modulation are the benefits.

 

Try it before calling BS.

Our Buick also has rear drum brakes with 1000 more lbs of car to stop. That car stopped more consistently and with less nose-diving after getting the drums adjusted.

With the Fit the car also nose-dove less after adjusting the brakes. The rear end also felt like it was squatting under braking, as it should thanks to its torsion-beam design.

In all 3 of my cars with rear drum brakes, all 3 needed periodic adjustment to work their best. I've tried hitting the parking brake and reversing in an empty parking lot. Manually adjusting is vastly superior to both. The auto-adjusters (same design on the Buick and Honda, BTW) simply do not work that well.

 

True. Even my old VW Beetles eventually had self adjusting rear drums, and they worked well. But I was a kid once and could not stop working on my car. I understand. It's a pity that cars have so little that the average mechanic can work on these days.

Say, you wouldn't happen to know about the rear drum breaks on a FIT being overly sensitive to driving with the break on? -Like an old-fart idiot, I forgot the release the rear break and drove about 500-600 feet with the rear breaks on. -Slow speed and down hill, but I think it may have started to loosen my engine mount -there is a slight jerking when putting the transmission in drive. It only has 700 miles on it so i am not sure how normal this is.

The manual says that it can also hurt the axles?!! This seems rather extreme for a mistake that previously has only cost me a little break lining! Do you know anything about this? -Thanks

Also, I wonder if I should risk telling the Honda service people about leaving the break on for a few hundred feet?

 

500 - 600 feet?


No harm, no foul. I wouldn't mention that to a service writer.

 

Thanks -I figured so much, but it's nice to have a second opinion. In the old days, I'd never bother with such a dumb question. But I never cease to be astounded by some of the absurd new technology in cars today, and I no longer take anything for granted. The Fit has it's share of insane technology. —E.g., the oil system, multi port injection, fuel tank design, the tendency to supply more fuel than can be combusted for low RPM torque, small battery, AIR BAGS EVERYWHERE, etc.) Worse, the manual, mentions that leaving the hand break on will corrupt the rear axle! (really!) I also thought the engine mount might have loosened a tad -but I think not. If so, it will require exactly 3.01 years to require repair.

My only real complaint with the Fit so far is it's tendency to not stay in it's lane on a smooth highway above 55 MPH. -It's not alignment, nor balance, but I think the power steering is too sensitive. Also, it does not have the stabaliser system one expects from Honda.

Do you know if the steering can be adjusted?

PS: It seems a tad better after 800 miles -we'll see. It came with cheaper Dunlop tyres, hmmm.

 

Our '07 Fit Sport has the OE Dunlops and it is a good cruiser. You might want to mention this to the service writer....an alignment might be in order.


PS We run the front tires 3 PSI over recommended, and the back tires less. (33F - 30R PSI). You might want to experiment with tire pressures before going to the bother of bringing it in.

 

Thanks. Yep, I run the tyres at about 33-34 pounds, and I have the Dunlops, but I am sure they are not the best ones. -Don't think it is alignment, as the wandering is nuetral and often road-crown dependent. Plus no balance problems. It's just a small , light car. —Can't expect it to handle like a '58 Biscayne. Driving a sofa is not my idea of fun anyway, but lane wandering should not be an issue in ANY car -regardless of size. It's not too bad. I can drive with one hand -in fact it's about the same as my old Ford Focus. Most people will not notice it, but I answer to a higher standard. Also, much surprised over cornering -the anti-sway bars simply so not work. I suspect they do nothing but cost money. The "VSA" -vehicle stability assist electronic feedback circuit is also a money user. Or perhaps it requires an accident to work? The car does fair on sharp turns, but on highway ramps over 35 , it tends to over-play -i.e. sway. -no excuse Honda! It has a super wide wheel-base and it is NOT that light of a car -2480 lbs! (where is that weight coming from?!) The Yaris without any anti-sway system handles better on those curves and it is better on the highway. Frankly, I almost bought a Yaris -Damn fun to drive and it stays in it's lane well for a car that weighs half of the Fit. I recommend this car for young people on a budget. It has the same vibe as my old Beetles but handles far better and has modern ergonomics. I LOVED the manual windows and keys locks. I rented a Yaris once -really fell in love. But it is a tad small. Of course, the Yaris should be getting 60 MPG, not 36.

PS: Why do people by "Smart Cars"?!! They are hideously unsafe at any speed AND they are NOT cheap!! Unpractical and expensive. Manhattan or Singapore is the only place for a Smart Car -not on an Interstate! (people are crazy to take that thing on the highway). —oh yeah, I rant. Sorry.

 

Tell us how you really feel.


Perhaps you need to trade up to one of these? Not so much "Insane Technology".

 

Double?? haha Yaris only weighs 210 lbs less than a Fit and rated gas mpg is the same. Go to MSN auto and compare base 5 dr A/T models of each. Other than price (Yaris $1,600 less) the Fit damn near sweeps the Yaris.

I did test drive a Yaris couple years back and although a decent car not as overall refined as the Fit. Didn't do any highway speeds so can't comment on the road wandering/high speed handling though. I slightly prefer Yaris exterior design over the Fit but the Yaris interior blows. That centered display in the dash is ridiculous.

The extra $1,600 you'll spend on the Fit buys you plenty of extras, power mirrors, power windows, rear wiper, power door locks with remote entry, more horsepower, 5 spd vs 4 spd A/T, bigger wheels, magic seats and over double the cargo capacity, decent sound system with USB, small towing capability, cruise control, drl's, etc. etc.

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Perhaps you need to grow up? No. I suppose not. Anyway, the odds are against you.