Rear axle help, drum won't rotate, chain slap also

[5twins]

I'm going to mention something else. I just reassembled my original '78 brake plate. I had it wrong before. In fact I had all mine wrong. I saw the dot but didn't know how to orient it years back. I had a choice of two positions and I chose wrong, lol, then proceeded to assemble any others I had like that. But, that's not the point I want to make. When I originally serviced that '78 brake plate, I noticed as I worked the brake arm, plate off in my hands, that the shoes wanted to walk off the cam. I see that in your pic on yours. So, I swapped them top to bottom, and then they stayed put, not walking outward as I pumped the lever. So now I'm assemblying it with the cam flipped, so I figure I better swap the shoes back. No dice, they wanted to walk off the cam again so I had to put them back the way I had them. Then they stayed in tight.

 

[bikefreakjon]

Just checked and my brake cam is in backwards

I will have to see how it performs switched around.

Unfortunately in order to do a fair test that means I shouldn't do any sanding or brake surface prep I should just switch the cam around. I was planning on scrubbing some more rust next time I was in there...

 

[kawabunga]

I'm going to mention something else. I just reassembled my original '78 brake plate. I had it wrong before. In fact I had all mine wrong. I saw the dot but didn't know how to orient it years back. I had a choice of two positions and I chose wrong, lol, then proceeded to assemble any others I had like that. But, that's not the point I want to make. When I originally serviced that '78 brake plate, I noticed as I worked the brake arm, plate off in my hands, that the shoes wanted to walk off the cam. I see that in your pic on yours. So, I swapped them top to bottom, and then they stayed put, not walking outward as I pumped the lever. So now I'm assemblying it with the cam flipped, so I figure I better swap the shoes back. No dice, they wanted to walk off the cam again so I had to put them back the way I had them. Then they stayed in tight.

I had pulled the shoes away from the plate a bit to get a better view of the washer for the photo. The shoes are basically brand new, I replaced them when I did the build so they have about 150 miles on them now. I can't imagine much wear has occurred yet. But, that's something I'll keep an eye on now. Thanks for the tip!

 

[bosco659]

Just had a look at the dimple on the splined shaft and mine is pointing the wrong way. Will flip it around once I get the center stand installed. Can I expect a noticeable improvement in the rear braking? Thx for the tip!

Took the rear brake assembly apart and turned the cam assembly 180 degrees so the dimple faces the axle. Scuffed up the shoes lightly as well as the drum. Brake works much better now. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Thomashickey]

I’m having the same issue with mine did you ever get fixed or figure out ?

 

[Thomashickey]

Like the part about the axle not being able to tighten up

 

[kawabunga]

Like the part about the axle not being able to tighten up

Thomas, I did get the axle installed properly but I have not resolved the chain slap issue yet. Go through the entire thread, it's only three pages, you'll see that I was mistaken about my brake plate situation and that was remedied. If you're having issues with your axle not tightening up we'll need some details about your situation.