Learn from the pro (working on GD Fit):

He's using some drum brake specific tools.
I see a bunch of them on Amazon. I assume Harbor Freight has a similar set.

 

Good video, Save. Thanks.

 

The biggest struggles with drums I’ve had are:

-accidentally pushing out the brake cylinder piston when trying to force the top spring on. No biggie, just reinsert and bleed brakes.
-not remembering the proper orientation of the weird double cut fork side of the adjuster. Also, one of the adjusters has left handed threads because prying upwards from the little access port behind the wheel hub always tightens the adjustment. It’s best not to do both sides at once so you don’t mix up parts.
its a good idea to snap a good picture of your brake setup before disassy. That is assuming someone didn’t previously mess up the install. On my previous Fit, the previous owner had inverted the left and right front brake pads so the squeal bars where on the bottom. Lol.
-springs and those stupid retainer clips. I’m for sure buying these tools next time I do drums.

my adjustment method is different than in the video.
- I like to pump the brake pedal and pull the hand brake up a couple times to center and align the shoes before adjusting.
- pull out the little rubber plug with pliers.& use a flat head screw driver to pry up on the adjuster with the hub on.
-Once I’ve got some drag, I pump the brakes and jerk the hand brake a few times again to align the shoes.
-pull up the handbrake to the first click only. Usually, the drums are near impossible to turn by hand at this point.
-I repeat the process until the drum has slight drag with the parking brake off and very hard or impossible to turn by hand on the first click of the e brake.

once I’m done I spray a bit of silicon lube on the plug to make it easy to reinsert.

I usually then replace my brake fluid because it’s likely due. Before I attempt any brake bleed, I zap off and reinsert all the bleeder screws with my lowest power impact wrench. I live in a rust prone area and have broken off bleed screws taking the utmost care using a wrench. I didn’t believe it but using an impact takes care of the crustiest brake bleeder valves in the blink of an eye and have never snapped one since I started doing that.

I bought a one person brake bleed kit with a little magnetic bottle and it makes flushing the fluid super easy. I also use a medicine syringe (50 cents at a pharmacy) with some clear nylon tube and suck out as much brake fluid I can from the master cylinder before topping it off with fresh fluid. It usually takes me a good bottle and a half of brake fluid to get all the dirty fluid out and clean fluid to start appearing.

after that, just two clicks of the parking brake will hold me on a hill. I’ve heard the biggest problem with drum brake adjustment is that people adjust them too loosely and can go nearly a hundred thousand miles with barely any wear on their shoes.

I also recommending purchasing a replacement drum brake hardware kit from rockauto. They are like 5$. I usually reuse all the hardware but if something is super crusty or if I bend a spring while struggling to remove it, I just replace it with a spare from the kit. Also, molykote paste is super expensive but works wonders, especially on the retaining clips for front brakes. It’s a must have in my region because rust will tend to seize front pads in their retainers. I’ve actually had to bang some out with a hammer, including on my current Fit purchased in March. Grease won’t help here since it will only attract crud so a dry lube like molykote is the way to go.

honda service manual calls for molykote on all the spots shown in the video and for the front, on the pad tabs and backing plates. I use that and never had brake squeal ever.

 

The spring-gripping tool looks helpful, but duckbill pliers make quick work of the retainer clips, and have other uses. They're sort of like needle-nose pliers but with shorter, wider jaws and long handles. That makes them useful for reaching down in narrow spaces to grip things (like spark plugs) and the wide flat jaws work well on hose clamps.
With the retainer clips, you very lightly grip the flat of the pin, then push in with the pliers to compress the spring, grip the pin solidly, twist 90° (the spring should bump up against the brake shoe) and release. It may help to support the back side of the pin so it doesn't just push back when you compress the spring.