HJ60 BRAKE ADJUSTMENT

How old is the 60? there may be slight differences but here goes.
The rear drums have automatic adjusters which are driven by the application of the handbrake.
The adjustment rod has a toothed gearlike thing in its middle which the handbrake lever forces to rotate which in turn expands the shoes outwards towards the drum.
To stop the 'gear' rotating backwards when the handbrake is released there is a spring loaded pawl (piece of metal) which locks the 'gear'. What this means is that the 'gear' can only rotate in one direction forcing the shoes outwards towards the drum. This can make it nigh on impossible to remove the brake drum.
First of all jack the truck up so the rear wheel is off the ground, when rotating the wheel you should hear the rear shoes just scraping the drum with no actual resistance.
To adjust the brakes manually remove the oval (really a rectangle with rounded ends) rubber bung from the backing plate.
With a flat blade screwdriver against the teeth on the gear rotate it, probably only one or two clicks at a time, it will only rotate in one direction as the teeth are like a sand dune only steep on one side as well as the pawl preventing it turning the other way. After 3 or 4 clicks jump on the brake pedal a few times, this centres the brake shoes then try the rotation to see how much they are touching the drums. If you do it too far the brakes will drag, to back them off get another small screwdriver and bend it in an arc about 3" long and 3/4" high, this will enable it to clear the wheel cylinder and push the pawl back so you can click the adjusting wheel in the reverse direction. The job can be very fiddly and if you are not mechanically inclined best to get it done professionally.

They are self adjusting - supposed to adjust up when you reverse and hit the brake.

You can manually adjust them by using a screwdriver thru the adjustment hole in the backing plate above the axle.

Do your brakes have a problem?

Pull the handbrake and release a few times.
Chock the front wheels and jack the rear wheels with handbrake off
There should a rubber dust plug on the backing plate,remove plug
Insert an adjusting tool and turn the rachet wheel until the wheel will no longer spin.(Youll have to work out which to turn the rachet for adjustment )
Then insert a small screw driver and release the pawl that stops the rachet rotating and back off until the wheel just begins to spin freely.
Do the other wheel.
That is more or less word for word from the Gregories manual and is similar to most cars with drums.
Doing the handbrake adjustment now will give you the best handbrake.

Another tip is to reverse at speed and hit the foot brake hard.
I think this is supposed to take up the slack in the self adjusting mechanism never tried it but it came from a good source.