Matt16

How do I properly adjust the rear pads to compensate for the new front pads? I know the mechanics of adjusting the rear pads i think, but I don't know to what extent I have to adjust them.

Help would be appreciated, I'm going outside to change the front pads now.

Yodaforce

Front and rear brakes are adjusted automatically by fluid hydraulics. Rear brakes usally only need to be adjusted for the parking brake to function properly.
It's as simple as opening your reservoir, syphon out some fluid, leave open, push brake piston back into it's seat far enough to accomodate the new pads, install new pads, reassemble, top off reservoir (if needed) and put cap back on, pump brake pedal to seat the pads back into position, check fluid.

blacklabel

the rear drum brakes are self adjusting. every time you are in reverse and apply the brakes, the rear drum brakes adjust themselves. this is done automaticly by a ratcheting mechanism found behind the brake drums inbetween the brake shoes.

abecedarian

The front brakes on our trucks have little influence on the rear adjustment. On some other vehicles with cross-balanced brakes, a loose rear wheel adjustment can delay operation of a front caliper, but that's not the case with our separated front / rear circuits.

Now, whichever way the rears adjust (mine do so with the parking brake and I believe my wife's 91 does so as well), once they're adjusted, they're adjusted. If you're going to adjust them manually, you'll have to spin the adjuster until the rear shoes induce a slight drag on the drum, then back until the drag is almost gone. And my preference is to adjust them before bleeding them.

If the rears aren't adjusted properly, the fronts will be doing all the braking if the adjustment to the rear is so far out that the MC cannot pump enough fluid to the rear wheel cylinders to expand them sufficiently.