Can I manually adjust my neverlube self adjusting brakes

[Willym]

I had self adjusting brakes as part of an upgrade to 8k axles on my old Landmark.These were Lippert brakes, but a straight copy of Dexter's as far as I could tell. You don't need to be backing up for them to adjust, but you do need to apply the brakes hard to get full shoe movement ii order to move the pawl that pushes on and turns the ratchet. When my axles were new, the brakes were hopeless. I found that the adjusters were set way back, and adjusted them by hand. IIRC there are two access holes in the back plate for this. You can tighten them easily with a regular adjusting tool, or a flat blade screwdriver. However, you need another thin tool to release the ratchet pawl so that they can be loosened. When the drum is off, you can play with the lever that operates the shoes and see how the adjuster works. When I did my annual brake and bearing inspection, I had to loosen the shoe adjustment so that the drum would come off easily and needed the two tools.