Every disc/drum car I've owned has had a slot on the back side of the drum brake assembly for manually adjusting the ratchet wheel (to bring the brake shoes closer to the drum). This has done wonders for firming up the brake pedal and reducing travel.

Do our Fits not have a provision for this adjustment?

 

i think the brakes are self adjusting.....

 

They are- have been for at least 30 years on most cars. Don't know about Yugos or early Hyundais.
Every time you back up and then brake to a stop, a spring loaded cam in each of the rear brake assemblies takes up the slack if there is any.

 

Yes, but these adjusters have a habit of not working. I've never owned a car where they worked properly. Maybe honda finally figured it out?

 

meh, convert to rear disc brakes, and you'll never have this problem :P

 

I looked at the car again. There is a rubber plug back there, but it doesn't line-up with the ratchet wheel. I pulled off the drums and manually turned the adjusters several turns. The drums were a tight fit going back on.

From the looks of it, the curvature of the drum might be just slightly shallower than the curvature of the shoe. Only the topmost 1-2" of shoe had ever contacted the drum.

After doing this, the pedal is much more solid and it begins to firm-up much higher in its travel. I think I'll stay on top of this until the entire shoe wears a little and makes full contact. The car only has 300 miles on it, so it's understandable that the shoe is not bedded-in yet. An interesting side-effect is that the parking brake lever now begins acting at the very first click and can only be pulled 4-5 clicks instead of 10.

Rear drum brakes on a front wheel drive car don't contribute much to the overall braking due to the strong front bias designed into the system. However, drum brakes require a much greater volume of fluid than discs and if those shoes are sitting more than one metric c__thair from the drum, the overall feel of the system will be spongy.

 

..and yes, rear discs would be nice but I'm not dropping $600 or whatever it costs just to firm up the pedal and add unsprung weight.

 

Rear drums have MORE volume that the front disk? I think not. You look at the size of the rear actuator?

 

I just saw theese Goodridge G-Stop Brake Lines - 30+ Reviews on Goodridge Brake Lines - Stainless Steel
for my 2013 Fit. Any experience with Goodridge?
It looks like this should be a good investment for improve break pedal feeling and stopping power. Any trick required to install these?
Thanks!