Rear brakes not working right

[big specht]

I have a 86 golf and a 83 rabbit and both the front brakes lock up in the snow and you can't steer the both have good wheel cylinders and shoes and new drums. Is there a way to adjust the rear shoes up better than the factory self adjusters???

[chrissev]

I have a 86 golf and a 83 rabbit and both the front brakes lock up in the snow and you can't steer the both have good wheel cylinders and shoes and new drums. Is there a way to adjust the rear shoes up better than the factory self adjusters???

the rear brakes are self adjust.  if they are binding on you then you could have a number of problems.  There may be a kink in one of your flex hoses, causing the brake fluid to exit too slowly.  This will cause brake binding.  Another thing is sometimes the slider places on the rear brakes rust and they stick.  Solution is to file them down and lubricate with lithium grease.  The front brakes also have sliders in the calipers, on the golf they will be in the caliper bolt holes.  They often rust and then the calipers don't release and you get brake binding.  Solution is to take the sliders apart and clean them, maybe lubricate a bit but be careful because if the lubricant gets on the friction materials it will damage them.  Another thing you might have is air bubbles in the brake lines.  If there is air in the back lines then you will get excessive front braking and not enough rear braking.  Solution is to bleed the lines.  I don't think it's a good idea to play around with the adjusters in the rear brakes.  They are designed to adjust for brake shoe wear by slowly dropping down as the linings wear out.  If you try to modify them you might cause more damage than you fix.