Need Help:no parking brakes!

[Phil Stuart]

I have no parking brakes at all. The pedal definitely has the normal amount of travel and there is a good bit of resistance felt when pushing on the pedal like the shoes are being applied. That part seems normal.

But I left the brake on and shifted out of park without the engine running/key on and on a slight incline it just rolls like theres nothing grabbing in the rear at all. I could push it and it would roll

The cable under the body has no slack when the pedal is applied, tight as it normally should be. I want to get it inspected soon and know for sure it won't pass like this. Any ideas?

I'm thinking it's something inside the drums that's not doing it's job. If that's the case I'll have to pull both sides and check.



Phil

 

[tateinca]

Phil, besed on my experience you will need to pull the drums. If the cable is tight when applied the problem has to be inside the drum. The cable could be frozen but you won't know until you look inside. Good luck, Hugh.

 

[Phil Stuart]

Pulled the drums yesterday and found...

the shoes to be worn almost down to the rivets,and they were WAY out of adjustment,and the star adjusters were siezed up. Found lots of rust/dirt too.

The parking brake cable on the right side where it attaches to the brake lever was bound up causing it to be at the limit of it's travel,thus the cable would be tight but no brake application.

I will have the drums turned to clean them up. I bought the SPX/OTC spindle nut socket tool to make the job easier.

Looks to me they were not checked on a regular basis as the axle shaft and hub has to come off to get access to the brakes.

I bought new Bendix shoes and hardware and will do a thorough cleaning of the backing plates before I put the new parts on. Hopefully this will solve the problems.



Phil