Parking brake adjustment 🤔
October 3rd, 2020, 05:38 PM
#1
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Parking brake adjustment 🤔
What is the proper adjustment? My '72 Supreme won't roll forward in gear when the parking brake is set, but it will roll in reverse. Do I need to adjust it so it won't roll in either direction, or am I good?
October 3rd, 2020, 06:30 PM
#2
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Dave - The parking brake should hold the vehicle in both forward and reverse direction i.e. the car should not roll forward and the car should not roll backwards when in the neutral position. You need to adjust your rear brakes per the CSM. You do this on the rear brakes. There are pretty pictures and a description of how to adjust the rear brakes. This assumes you still have drum rears.
October 3rd, 2020, 07:39 PM
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Dave - The parking brake should hold the vehicle in both forward and reverse direction i.e. the car should not roll forward and the car should not roll backwards when in the neutral position. You need to adjust your rear brakes per the CSM. You do this on the rear brakes. There are pretty pictures and a description of how to adjust the rear brakes. This assumes you still have drum rears.
As far as the rear drum adjustment, I always thought you do that by putting it in reverse and backing up then hitting the brakes to let the self adjusters do their work...am I wrong?
Last edited by 72455; October 3rd, 2020 at 07:44 PM.
October 3rd, 2020, 07:48 PM
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So when engaged and in gear, should it hold? Cuz it doesn't roll in drive, but it will in reverse...didn't check it in neutral.
As far as the rear drum adjustment, I always thought you do that by putting it in reverse and backing up then hitting the brakes to let the self adjusters do their work...am I wrong?
As far as the rear drum adjustment, I always thought you do that by putting it in reverse and backing up then hitting the brakes to let the self adjusters do their work...am I wrong?
October 3rd, 2020, 08:05 PM
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Dave - As an additional follow-up to your other thread regarding your dash light stays on, you stated in that thread you push your parking brake a mere two clicks and that's as much travel as it takes before the parking brake is set. As I mentioned, you should generally push the parking brake pedal ~3/4 travel down when the parking brakes engages and locks the rear brakes. For whatever reason, that's too tight, IMO. You need to evaluate what's going on with the parking brake cable from under the chassis. You may, in fact, need to remove the wheels and actually see if the parking brake cable is functioning properly as designed. The Equalizer Nut is located in the middle of the chassis (underneath the floor pan). It equalizes the force between the two rear wheels. Make certain the cable which runs from the Equalizer to each rear wheel has freedom and isn't binding on the cable guides. Actually, make certain you have two cable guides. It's possible for any reason a cable guide broke, and the Equalizer is applying force to only one rear wheel. I can't say without looking at it. But you need to look at it, determine the parking brake cable is free from any bindings, encumbrances, etc. and you can determine the Equalizer is functioning as designed.
October 3rd, 2020, 08:22 PM
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So when engaged and in gear, should it hold? Cuz it doesn't roll in drive, but it will in reverse...didn't check it in neutral.
As far as the rear drum adjustment, I always thought you do that by putting it in reverse and backing up then hitting the brakes to let the self adjusters do their work...am I wrong?
As far as the rear drum adjustment, I always thought you do that by putting it in reverse and backing up then hitting the brakes to let the self adjusters do their work...am I wrong?
Last edited by Vintage Chief; October 3rd, 2020 at 08:25 PM.
October 3rd, 2020, 10:13 PM
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So when engaged and in gear, should it hold? Cuz it doesn't roll in drive, but it will in reverse...didn't check it in neutral.
As far as the rear drum adjustment, I always thought you do that by putting it in reverse and backing up then hitting the brakes to let the self adjusters do their work...am I wrong?
As far as the rear drum adjustment, I always thought you do that by putting it in reverse and backing up then hitting the brakes to let the self adjusters do their work...am I wrong?
If the rear brake hardware is functioning properly, the self-adjusting function should keep the brakes adjusted correctly. If the hardware is worn, has missing parts, or parts installed incorrectly (you wouldn't believe how badly some folks mess up drum brakes), the self-adjusters may not work properly.
October 4th, 2020, 04:43 AM
#9
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Well, it shouldn't really roll in reverse while in reverse gear for that matter. Although, that's modestly subjective considering I don't know what your low idle is set to on your car, if you're on an incline, etc. The fact of the matter is, the parking brake should "lock" the rear wheels, period - that's what it is designed to do. Adjust it per the CSM.
October 4th, 2020, 05:11 AM
#10
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To check the parking brake remove the rear drums, check nothing is worn out or has fluid leaks.
The parking brake operating lever should be at the beginning of its travel, if it isn't slacken the cable(s) until it is. Make sure the cable is free to move in its housing.
Make sure the foot brake is properly adjusted - self adjusters sometimes don't work properly.
Take up most (but not all) of the slack in the parking brake cables.
Put the drums back on and try the parking brake, it should smoothly increase resistance on the pedal until it's 1/2-3/4's through its travel.
Quick and dirty check, put the wheels on and tighten the lug nuts, the wheels should hold firm both ways.
All to often I have found brakes "adjusted" by tightening up the cable, if the rear brakes are set up and working properly you should almost never need to adjust the cable.
Roger.
The parking brake operating lever should be at the beginning of its travel, if it isn't slacken the cable(s) until it is. Make sure the cable is free to move in its housing.
Make sure the foot brake is properly adjusted - self adjusters sometimes don't work properly.
Take up most (but not all) of the slack in the parking brake cables.
Put the drums back on and try the parking brake, it should smoothly increase resistance on the pedal until it's 1/2-3/4's through its travel.
Quick and dirty check, put the wheels on and tighten the lug nuts, the wheels should hold firm both ways.
All to often I have found brakes "adjusted" by tightening up the cable, if the rear brakes are set up and working properly you should almost never need to adjust the cable.
Roger.
October 4th, 2020, 05:48 AM
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Dave - As an additional follow-up to your other thread regarding your dash light stays on, you stated in that thread you push your parking brake a mere two clicks and that's as much travel as it takes before the parking brake is set. As I mentioned, you should generally push the parking brake pedal ~3/4 travel down when the parking brakes engages and locks the rear brakes. For whatever reason, that's too tight, IMO. You need to evaluate what's going on with the parking brake cable from under the chassis. You may, in fact, need to remove the wheels and actually see if the parking brake cable is functioning properly as designed. The Equalizer Nut is located in the middle of the chassis (underneath the floor pan). It equalizes the force between the two rear wheels. Make certain the cable which runs from the Equalizer to each rear wheel has freedom and isn't binding on the cable guides. Actually, make certain you have two cable guides. It's possible for any reason a cable guide broke, and the Equalizer is applying force to only one rear wheel. I can't say without looking at it. But you need to look at it, determine the parking brake cable is free from any bindings, encumbrances, etc. and you can determine the Equalizer is functioning as designed.
October 4th, 2020, 06:04 AM
#12
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OK. So, it's beginning to sound as though you're going to need to dig deeper in the wheel brake drum to ensure hardware components are installed correctly, not worn out, and adjusted properly. If you follow rustyroger's comments, you should quickly be able to determine if the brakes are working "as designed". Honestly, every time I've had to adjust drum brakes on any rear drum brake car I've owned, I've had a manual right in front of me every time and followed the instructions meticulously. Some folks know drum brakes like the back of their hand & can perform the adjustments in their sleep - not me, I have to read it several times. GL
October 4th, 2020, 08:19 AM
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October 4th, 2020, 08:45 AM
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If someone made adjustments to the self-adjuster w/ the parking brake set, the self-adjuster would be incorrectly adjusted. I'll toss up a couple videos for you to evaluate. It's a little time consuming but you have something incorrectly adjusted most likely, maybe that knurl behind the wheel hub where the cable leads into the drum? Clearances are important as are the functioning of each hardware piece.
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October 4th, 2020, 02:32 PM
#16
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No. At one time my Jeep had an issue with the parking brake self adjusters not working well (worn out originals), and while the brakes worked when "braking in reverse" the Jeep would roll back down the driveway with the parking brake set. I had to pull the lever up almost all the way to prevent it from rolling. New drum brake hardware corrected that issue.
October 7th, 2020, 07:33 PM
#17
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Followed the CSM and adjusted my parking brake today...one note of interest though. The CSM doesn't tell you to put the car in neutral... otherwise how are you going to spin the tire to check the adjustment?
After adjustment, the light on my dash is still on with the parking brake released...guess I'll have to check the directional valve...nice.
After adjustment, the light on my dash is still on with the parking brake released...guess I'll have to check the directional valve...nice.
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