1983 dodge w150 pickup rear drum install

Once you have bled the air from the brake lines,clamp off the front brake hoses carefully.Does the pedal feel better now?
Then the pad /caliper fit is allowing too much play.Is the pedal the same?Then clamp the rear hose and try the pedal.Is it fine with the rear hose clamped?If so we now know the problem is at the rear brakes.One common low pedal rear brake cause is brake shoes that do not fit the drums.Remove the drums and look at the shoes,are they showing contact wear fully or just in the middle of the shoe?Remove a shoe and place it in the drum.Can you rock the shoe against the drum surface?Once drums have been resurfaced,the shoes will not fit fully against the drum allowing the shoe the flex when applying pressure to it and this can easily create a low soft brake pedal. Of course rear brake adjustment must be correct once brake shoe contact is correct.To correct brake shoe contact,have your shoes re arc-ed to fit resurfaced drums or install new drums.Don't overlook brake master cyl /brake pedal push rod adjustment too.

check brake pads /shoes for lining thickness if drums check for ovality in the drums surface or disc condition
check rear end suspension rubbers and shockys.
check for correct operation of the brake portioning valve as the condition may be from the rear wheels locking up
if it has ABS braking it may be the braking action , a combination of the items to be checked that is causing the problem

take off the drums on both sides and do one at a time if you run into problems check the side your not working on to assist you.

Yes you can fix it. Jack wheel off ground after loosing lug nuts. Take off wheel. Pull drum if it wont come off hit it around the center with a hammer. If it has never been off there might be little washers on the studs break them off. If drum still won't come off there are holes in the plate behind the drum the shoes can't get past the ridge on the drum so you take two screwdrivers through the hole and lift up on the lever and use the other one to unscrew back off the shoes by moving the wheel up or down Remove drum take a bunch of pictures of the shoes so you can see how to put them on. Remove shoes. It would help to buy some cheap brake wrenches.Spray the brake line with some type of penetrant and remove brake line. Unbolt wheel cylinder and install new one. Replace brake shoes and springs Have drums turned or replaced if bad Install drums and bleed brakes.Start at the passenger rear fill it with brake fluid put cover on and have someone pump the brakes until the pedal is as hard as it will get Hold the pedal down and loosen bleeder screw on back of wheel cylinder brak fluid will squirt out and when it stops him holding his foot on the floor tighten the screw and pump the brakes up hard again bleed it about 8 more times go to the drivers rear and do the same there then the front passenger side and then the front drivers side make sure the brake fluid stays full if it empties out of the master cylinder to the bottom you will have to start over

sometimes the emergency brake will stick even after it is released. Most drum brakes will still let it go backwards but not forward. I would pull the rear drums and check. If e/brake is stuck removing the left drum will be difficult. If so then you will have to manually adjust the brakes until drum loosens up. good luck

there should be a rubber plug behind the drum and that way you can back off the shoes until the drum is free try these websites www.autozone.com and www.alldatadiy.com and that way you be able to get pictures and diagrams showing you how to repair your truck

Remove wheel remove drum. If you have been grinding for a while, you will need to unadjust the brake shoes. If you live in a rusty place, you will need to unadjust the shoes, spray with liquid penatrant, and let sit for a couple of hours. Or, if you need to replace them, knock the hell out of them with a big hammer.

You need to retract the brake shoes, via the center adjuster mechanism. As your old brake wore, the adjuster moved the shoes outward. Simply move the adjuster to retract the shoes, then slide the drum on. Then, readjust the rear shoes.

loosen emergency brake both sides..open wheel cylinder and let fluid run as you pry gently side to side in between drum adn shoe through backing plate /drum area to collapse the shoes some..... use wd40 or quality rust buster at center of drum /axle area to loosen grip of rust fused metal at hub to drum ..tap tap with hammmer around circumference of drum to dislodge adn loosen shoes from drum and drum from axle..good luck.. be patient work slowly

i think your aware of how to change the brakes if im right and your problem is the rusted drum doesnt want to come off the only way to get the old drum off is to remove adjuster plug from behind drum dustshield and adjust the shoes so that there not even close to the braking area of the drum then try and wiggle the drum off of the assembly if it is not coming off then you need to use the old nylon hammer on the drum and i mean you must hit the drum from side to side trying by hand to wiggle the drum off its a tight fit and you need to strike the drum on the face not on the fins not wanting to damage with persistance and care and patience you will eventually be able to remove the drum to service brakes take care and good luck with it