[larrys40]

Jim
I’ll first start off by saying brakes are one of my staples and specialties. If your brakes won’t adjust it could be several things. From your post it sounds like the wedge is moving in... am I correct in that. Sometimes the threads in the backing plate get bad and stripped out and won’t let the adjuster work well with the resistance of the shoes anchors (a-2042).

Disassembly and diagnosis here is probably necessary. I would suggest pulling the drum off and watching and feeling the shoe action while you rotate the wedge in and out. If they are stock wedges ( non flathead teds design or other ) there should be no lock nut on the outside unless it was missing. This have a floating type which you probably don’t have but in mentioning just in case....

If you pull the shoes off by pulling the lower end of the show outward away from the wedge and slightly out to remove and then the other side you can remove the lower springs and then fold the shoes together slightly to remove the upper spring. Remove the shoes. Screw the adjuster all the way in and it should eventually force out the adjuster cap. A slight tap when it’s almost fully in may be required to tap it out. If there’s all kinds of impacted grease and dirt that will make them nit work correctly.
Inspect the ends of the shoe anchor (a-2042) and wedges and threads. If the threads are bad in the backing plate you will need another backing plate.

If the wedges don’t have good ridges the adjuster wedge will need replacing . Most don’t replace or restore all the necessary components when doing a brake job so poor brakes and poor adjustment are some of the most common issues of complaints.
Brakes can screech to a stop when done well and properly restored and adjusted.

See what’s going on and hopefully you will find the problem. Front brakes are much simpler to deal with than rears.
Always adjust the wedge first with drum and wheel on before you adjust and install the brake rod. Yes rods do need adjusting to dial things in once major brake work is done. Normal service adjustments for wear ARE done with the wedges. It’s amazing how many cars have aweful brakes!
It’s in part because many don’t know what they are doing ( I don’t mean that unkindly but by knowledge and experience) and it is also a costly job.

Hope this helps a little.
Larry Shepard