Parking brake Adjustment

[NETim]

I replaced the front and rear brakes about a year ago. I did the whole nine yards, pads, shoes and rotors.

I am not impressed with the parking brake performance. It will hold if the truck is facing uphill, but nose down, the truck will slowly creep forward.

I adjusted the star wheels on each side again tonight with the same results. I have the shoes adjusted to where they’re close to dragging with the brake off. I’m leery of tightening the shoes more. I don’t want them dragging and heating up the rotor.

Or can I tighten the shoes up yet and get away with it?

Or is this something I just have to live with?

Thanks!

 

[jws123]

The parking brake does kind of suck on these trucks Im due to replace mine next go around. Every 4th gen i have had I basically always had to push it all the way to the floor to hold solid but thats just me curious what others post.

 

[NETim]

The parking brake does kind of suck on these trucks Im due to replace mine next go around. Every 4th gen i have had I basically always had to push it all the way to the floor to hold solid but thats just me curious what others post.

Facing uphill is the most critical for my use, so I’m happy that it works reasonably well in that mode at least. Launching and loading the boat on the boat ramp is where it gets most of the use. Gives me some peace of mind.

 

[Daw14]

Maybe your cables need to be tightened up a bit , they tend to stretch with age . This can prevent full shoe engagement .

 

[CanuckRam1313]

When doing my parking brakes I always scuff up the inner drums and the shoes, too.

This helps to take off any glazing and gives those surfaces some bite.

As @Daw14 also said, check the cables as they do tend to stretch over time.

 

[NETim]

Given the truck is a ‘14, it’s likely the cables have stretched. I think there are 5 or 6 cables in the system front to back.

Research led me to another forum where a guy used a split nut connector (normally used to join two electric cables) in the yoke on the actuator pedal to take up some of the slack in the cables. I’m not sure how effective this “fix” may be but those split nut doodads are cheap. So maybe I’ll give it a whirl.

 

[HarryS]

If the park brake pedal doesn't go to the floor when pushed, then the adjustment is ok. Push the pedal harder is all you can do.

 

[turkeybird56]

Given the truck is a ‘14, it’s likely the cables have stretched. I think there are 5 or 6 cables in the system front to back.

Research led me to another forum where a guy used a split nut connector (normally used to join two electric cables) in the yoke on the actuator pedal to take up some of the slack in the cables. I’m not sure how effective this “fix” may be but those split nut doodads are cheap. So maybe I’ll give it a whirl.

If you are not satisfied with parking brake, I can give you an Old Air Force axiom: Get you a set of "wheel chocks" and chock the truck if you have to, could be an intermediate fix till you get problem solved. Just thinking out loud.

We were required to chock all vehicles on flightline which is where that idea came from.

 

[NETim]

If the park brake pedal doesn't go to the floor when pushed, then the adjustment is ok. Push the pedal harder is all you can do.

I can bury it to the floor pretty easily. There is some resistance, but no definite “wall.”

 

[hemihustlin]

I actually just did the parking brake shoes on my 21 classic this weekend!
Im very fussy about my brakes in general. try and use my parking brake as much as possible to keep it in good shape, do 4 wheel brake service once a year, change brake oil et cetra. you can see the type lol
this year when i took the rear rotors off much to my suprise the drivers side parking brake shoes linings fell right to the floor. haha!
i was planning on lubing the pivot points and sanding the surfaces of the shoes and inside of drums anyways but now i was not lol
passenger side looked fine.
so i put it back together (this was last week) and ordered parking shoes and spring kit.
started by changing the drivers side this Saturday. got it out and it was being a bitxh to get back in so i went to check alldata for fun see what they said
they say remove axle shaft
yea right! if i got it out ill get it in

but the important part which im getting to now is they say to burnish the friction material to make a 25 mph to 0 stop with light to medium pressure on the parking brake pedal! wow!

i adjusted the parking brake like i usually do and made 2 or 3 little 10 and 15 mph stops with it. its true you can actually feel it getting more and more grabby!

everything works A1 now and the parking pedal stops just before the firewall

i should mention i dejammed the pivots where the cable pulls to push the pads out. both were jammed in rust.

 

[EdGs]

Seems like alot of people have had the brake linings fall off the brake shoe.

 

[hemihustlin]

Seems like alot of people have had the brake linings fall off the brake shoe

when you live in the salt belt this is a very common thing, across all brands of pickups. they all use the same cheap style of glued on lining, eventually they get unstuck, seemingly for no reason like mine where one side was completely unglued and the other side was perfect shape!

 

[NETim]

I think it's unusual if the shoes DON'T fall off.