Left rear drum very tight

21 hours ago, jj280z said:

At what point will the shoes stop expanding? What is the mechanism to keep the shoes from normally wedging themselves in place?

The way the shoes expand is the adjuster lever arm grabs a tooth on the geared wheel when you pull up on the hand brake. But when you release the hand brake, the lever slips across the geared wheel without turning it (because of the shape of the teeth on the wheel).

Keep yanking the brake lever up and then releasing, the shoes keep expanding one tooth at a time. UNTIL.... Once you reach the point that the shoes are spread far enough that the lever travel is so short that it does not catch a tooth when you pull up on the handle. At that point, the wheel will not turn any more until the shoes have worn enough that the lever travel will grab a tooth.

That's the mechanism that keeps the shoes from wedging themselves in place.