Hey guys so I’m working on a friends 2003 with rear drum brakes , got the left side done , the return spring on the adjuster is a pain in the *** to get into the shoe , took me a couple hours literally, now I’m doing the passenger side rear , have it all together and yep can’t get the return spring into the shoe , I have the adjuster/wheel fully closed so there’s no added tension. I’ve been at it for hours , have tried brake spring pliers , big flathead screwdriver , vice grips etc. I feel like it’s an impossible task , need the strength of the Incredible Hulk and still I fall short. I’m looking into a T handle brake spring puller , maybe that will help and give me leverage. Any suggestions ? I saw a guy do it with hose clamp pliers and it took him 5 seconds . My spring seems a whole lot tighter than that. Any help I’m desperate and I’m going to end up in the whack shack before I know it. Thanks in advance

 

This pain in the *** right here , got to move that spring like 2 inches over into the shoe , I got lucky on the other side but I’m several hours deep into this . Thanks

 

What the heck are you working on?

I've never seen the adjuster next to the cylinder and the last time I saw an axle shaft like that was on a Jeep.

 

It’s a 2003 ford escape , 3.0L pain in the butt. It’s definitely a different setup then my 09 ranger where the star adjuster wheel is at the bottom , that’s the drum brakes that I’m typically familiar with, the ones pictured above I have not seen yet , and I don’t understand why it takes so much torque to move the spring 2 inches over. I got lucky on the other side , I honestly don’t see this going in … very frustrating