When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
No adjustment left in 71 parking brake. Need info on rebuilding rear brake shoe system. Thanks
What are you adjusting? The cable under the car or the shoes themselves? As the shoes simply hold the car and are never actually gripping a spinning brake drum (or shouldn't be) they should never need additional adjusting.
No adjustment left in 71 parking brake. Need info on rebuilding rear brake shoe system. Thanks
Do you own a Service Manual or Shop manual???
You are aware that in order for you to service your parking brakes...the rear calipers MUST be removed,,,,and also the ROTOR...which MAY require you drilling out the rivets.
You are aware that in order for you to service your parking brakes...the rear calipers MUST be removed,,,,and also the ROTOR...which MAY require you drilling out the rivets.
DUB
Just getting the car so getting back into the c3 probs. Prioe owner tells me cable is out of adjustment. Maybe I can get away with replacing the cable. I thought I had to drill out rotors to get at rear shoes. I have not tried to adjust shoes as of yet. Just want to get the basic direction to this before I get into repair.
You might try to adjust the cable. You can check and see if
the adjustment is a far as it will go. This is the adjustment
where you tighten the cable to the rear parking brakes.
Just getting the car so getting back into the c3 probs. Prioe owner tells me cable is out of adjustment. Maybe I can get away with replacing the cable. I thought I had to drill out rotors to get at rear shoes. I have not tried to adjust shoes as of yet. Just want to get the basic direction to this before I get into repair.
The rotor should have a hole in it to access the shoe adjustment screw. The screw is at the 6 o'clock position behind the spindle. If you rotate the access hole in the rotor you should be able to see the star adjusted. Just it a screw driver through the hole to rotate the adjuster and tighten the shoes.
If the cable is adjusted all the way you can pull back on the adjustment and increase the shoe adjustment.
This is what the parking brake assembly looks like behind the spindle.
If you look at this rear rotor you can see the access hole on the top and bottom.
Last edited by Sigforty; Aug 16, 2015 at 10:31 AM.
Just getting the car so getting back into the c3 probs. Prioe owner tells me cable is out of adjustment. Maybe I can get away with replacing the cable. I thought I had to drill out rotors to get at rear shoes. I have not tried to adjust shoes as of yet. Just want to get the basic direction to this before I get into repair.
******PROFESSIONAL COMMENT******
Going off of what someone tells you can become both a waste of TIME and MONEY. I am NOT writing that the cable is not needing to be replaced....but I MYSELF...would have to check it out to verify that it needs replacing.
If you need a new rear cable that goes from one side to the other...I would HIGHLY advise that you get one JUST LIKE THIS ONE! The rear cables that are sleeved in a black material...can be a problem....due to not having the nice spiral wound sleeve like the original. The spiral wound sleeve like you see in the link allows the cable to have a solid housing to pull against when you pull on your hand brake handle. I have seen this poor attempt to 'improving' this cable FAIL and the actual black housing splits and the cable no longer has a good housing to contain the cable.
Making sure that BOTH levers in the parking brakes work correctly is a good idea. And ...even if you replace a cable...because I have experienced stretching in them from age a use. You might need to actually adjust the shoes.....which can either go easy or turn into a major endeavor.
The upper and lower springs in the photo in the post above...can rust and actually hold in the outward position(s)....thus...the spring(s) is/are NO LONGER a spring.
The reason I am writing this is that the adjustment of the shoes at the WHEEL need to be correct so you have enough adjustment in the lower cable. YES...there is a slight bit of 'give and take'...but getting them adjusted at the wheel correctly...does make adjusting the cable under the car a lot easier with room for future adjustments.
Got it. If I need to rebuild park brake system! How are rotor rivets removed? Do I need to re-rivet rotor back?
To remove the rivets..they are drilled out and that alone in itself is NO FUN. I drill down quite far and remove the head of the rivet...then I drive out the rest of the rivet that remains. SO...I am NOT drilling all the way through the rivet. When you look into the hole where you adjust the parking brake shoes REALLY GOOD WITH A LIGHT...you will see the thickness of the rotor and also the thickness of the spindle. I have a gauge that I set-up on my drill bit that allows me to drill down and this gauge stops me from drilling any further.
WHY do I do this. Because...when you use the correct drill bit that takes so much of the rivet shaft out when you drill it....you want to NOT make it hard for you to tap or drive out the rivet shaft that is remaining. Hitting these rivets like crazy is NOT something that I DO NOT DO...because I do not want to damage the spindle. And by 'damage the spindle'...I mean the way your rotor spins. I do not want 'tweak' the spindle and NOW your rotor is not all messed up and the run-out is screwed up due to beating the rivets to death and trying to get them out. I do not like grinding the shafts and leaving the rivets shafts still in the spindle. Just my way of doing it. Old remaining rivet pieces can not fall out in time if they are removed. Others may 'chime in' and comment.
The rotors do not need to be riveted back on. It is not a requirement unless you are worried about judging. The wheel being correctly tightened is all it needs. BUT...you DO want to make sure the surface of the spindle and the inside surface of the rotor are CLEAN and not crap getting caught between them when you install the rotor again.
If you check the brake rotor and you plan on replacing it...now would also be the tine to make sure that when you install the new rotor and install the lug nuts and tighten them....you check you run-out of your rear wheel bearings and also the rotor.
DO not be surprised that the rotor fights you when trying to come off. I have come across many rear rotors that were so badly scored and worn ...that the shoes hung up on the lip of the rotor where the shoes ate into it over time.....so....hopefully...you can possible adjust the shoes inward to aid in this. And ...from my experiences...I pull on the rotors at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions....which is where the parking brake shoes are located to get the rotor to come off.
DUB's write up's are excellent.
I just redid my '68 park brake system last fall.
And low and behold the damm thing works as advertised
I dicked and I dicked and I dicked with shoe adjustment and realized the cables were shot.
I replaced the rear shoes nothing special, Napa brand.
I used a vendors stainless steel hardware kit.
I purchased both thee long and short cables from Bair products.
Great cables by the way. They make cables and that is their business.
I replaced the shoes and hardware. It was a bear and brought out some of my best vocabulary. The damm spindle is in the way.
It can be done just patience is tried to the max when trying to work behind the spindle.
Star adjusters if installed, oriented correctly will require the adjusting tool... screw driver to be expanded starting at 12:00 pos and lift handle will end up at the 6:00 position.
Too tight, start with the handle low and press up ward to shorten star wheel.
There should be a slight drag, tire rotates 1 revolution on its own and stop from friction.
Then adjust the cable adjuster at the center adjuster.
My park lever comes up 12-14 clicks and will hold the car damm near verticle.
Again done by me on a friends lift w access to his snap on tool chest. This is no way text book directions. The results are that it worked and holds as advertised.
Hope this helped.
I mark the adjuster hole in the rotor with a white grease pencil from the hole down along the rotor so it can be oriented between adjustments because you will have the wheel on and off numerous times till the drag is just right.
Marshal
THANK YOU for expressing your experience in installing parking brake shoes and the adjustments. I know all about the 'choice words' that can be used in getting the shoes back in. I have done so many...when I am doing rear wheel bearings for people....I do the parking brake shoe and kit installation for free.
BUT....to be honest....I would like to add some information. Kinda pointless...but I thought I would pass it along.
Here is a trick that has worked for me for years and saves me time so I do not have to take a wheel off to adjust the parking brake shoes. NOW...I understand this is quite unfair...because I can not type how the drag feels when I adjust the shoes when they are NEW SHOES.
Due to the NEW SHOES need to be burnished. I adjust the shoes where there is a decently significant drag when I am turning the rotor. I want to feel a decent drag on the rotor. This is because when I drive it as the GM manual states...and pull back on the parking brake handle to burnish the shoes...I KNOW I will remove some shoe material...thus....the drag will be lessened greatly. And I know how the rotor feels AFTER I do the burnishing step because I have taken a wheel off and checked out the shoes and how the rotor spins with no caliper and no half shaft connected to it. SO...I have spent the time making sure how my initial setting of the shoes will perform. But...doing this has saved me so much time...so it was worth it knowing I would be doing parking brakes for years to come.
DUB's write up's are excellent.
I just redid my '68 park brake system last fall.
And low and behold the damm thing works as advertised
I dicked and I dicked and I dicked with shoe adjustment and realized the cables were shot.
I replaced the rear shoes nothing special, Napa brand.
I used a vendors stainless steel hardware kit.
I purchased both thee long and short cables from Bair products.
Great cables by the way. They make cables and that is their business.
I replaced the shoes and hardware. It was a bear and brought out some of my best vocabulary. The damm spindle is in the way.
It can be done just patience is tried to the max when trying to work behind the spindle.
Star adjusters if installed, oriented correctly will require the adjusting tool... screw driver to be expanded starting at 12:00 pos and lift handle will end up at the 6:00 position.
Too tight, start with the handle low and press up ward to shorten star wheel.
There should be a slight drag, tire rotates 1 revolution on its own and stop from friction.
Then adjust the cable adjuster at the center adjuster.
My park lever comes up 12-14 clicks and will hold the car damm near verticle.
Again done by me on a friends lift w access to his snap on tool chest. This is no way text book directions. The results are that it worked and holds as advertised.
Hope this helped.
I mark the adjuster hole in the rotor with a white grease pencil from the hole down along the rotor so it can be oriented between adjustments because you will have the wheel on and off numerous times till the drag is just right.
Marshal
I know this is an old post, but quick question on the cables from Bair's ..... did you order the OEM or the SS long / short cables? I'm looking at updating my cables now and have seen in some prior posts where people recommend against the newer cable designs, so wanted your opinion on the route you took.
jcnst1,
I would have to pull my receipt and look but as I recall they were standard OEM length. They are well made and have a nice protective sheathing although not the armoured sheathing as the factory.
After you install the 3 new cables click the hand brake lever up 2 clicks so you know they are properly released and not dragging.
Do your outlined adjustment and then when you release the handle you know the shoes are not dragging.
Funny thing this post reminded me, I have to readjust both sides from scratch as I had 2 new trailing arms installed. The shop did not bother to adjust the parking brake at all. I cringe every time I am forced to allow someone else work on this car.
Marshal
