Emergency Brake Adjust
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 36
Likes: 2
From: Maryland
Emergency Brake Adjust
Can someone provide the steps involved with adjusting the emergency brake on a C5? I have good pad life remaining on the rear brakes but the handle is no longer holding the car well. Thanks
Resident moron
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 4,746
Likes: 20
From: Assachusetts
Aye, the only other tip I can give is to adjust the e-brake to the point where it is hard to get the rotor on. There is a lip you have to get over, so no worries about it dragging. If you have to use a rubber mallet to get the rotor on you're doing it just right. Once you get the rotor all the way on you will see that it rotates smoothly. Enjoy your new amazing ebrake!
Dope
Dope
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Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 41,020
Likes: 9,775
From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
There is a tool that lets you do this easily. It is sort of like a large caliper with inside and outside ears. You use the outside ears to determine the diameter of the brake drum in the rotor and then you use the inside ears as a guide to adjust the shoes to a slightly smaller diameter.
It is called a Brake Resetting Gauge. Tool Part No. is KD 3377. A search on Yahoo or Google will find it easily.
The problem with just adjusting until the rotor is hard to get over the shoes is the shoes may be adjusted to tightly. Then you hammer the rotor on and find out it isn't coming off without doing damage to the shoes or other stuff. If you leave the rotor on the parking brake will drag until it wears down which can cause a serious overheating of the pad and the rotor.
Bill
It is called a Brake Resetting Gauge. Tool Part No. is KD 3377. A search on Yahoo or Google will find it easily.
The problem with just adjusting until the rotor is hard to get over the shoes is the shoes may be adjusted to tightly. Then you hammer the rotor on and find out it isn't coming off without doing damage to the shoes or other stuff. If you leave the rotor on the parking brake will drag until it wears down which can cause a serious overheating of the pad and the rotor.
Bill
Last edited by Bill Dearborn; Jul 7, 2011 at 11:02 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 6,993
Likes: 25
I think drilling an access hole and putting a plug in is a great idea, ideally on the backing plate side. Once you get the rotor off, you should Dremel the lip off so sliding it on/ff while your getting the adjustment right will be much easier (or take it to the machine shop and have them cut it on a lathe).
Racer
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 279
Likes: 4
From: Cincinnati OH
When I did mine I put the rotor on and was able to pull it out slightly on the side with the adjuster. Pulled it out just enough to get a thin piece of metal behind it to adjust with the rotor being "mostly in place".
