Adjuster strut for vehicle drum brake

In a vehicle wheel drum brake having a pair of shoes, a hydraulic actuating cylinder operable on adjacent ends of said shoes and a wheel hub in relatively closely spaced adjacency to said actuator, the improvement comprising an adjuster strut comprised of a generally flat element extending over the major portion of the length of the strut and located between said wheel hub and said actuating cylinder, said element abutting one of said shoes and having an enlarged end portion remote from said one shoe, said enlarged end portion being at all times wholly disposed to the side of the axis of said hub as the other of said shoes, an abutment member abutting said other of said shoes, a ratchet wheel having an axial recess therein for rotatably receiving a projection on said abutment member whereby said ratchet wheel surrounds and abuttingly engages portions of said abutment member, a pawl pivotally mounted on said other of said shoes and arranged to rotate said wheel in the event of excess shoe travel, and a screw threaded rod having a non-rotatable screw threaded connection with the enlarged end portion of said flat element and a rotatable screw threaded connection with said ratchet wheel whereby rotation of said wheel along said rod and against said abutment member in response to excess shoe wear increases the strut length.