Adjusting Parking Brake?

[MikeGreen]

hi, my parking was working great and now it seemed to come loose sometimes it holds fine other it starts rolling backwords and hit a curb....so now i have to fix it before it does more damage. Does anyone know how i can tighten up my parking brake? I was thinking it was on the cable but im not sure. thanks

[td1042k]

the parking brake SUCKS ASS in these cars..ive had mine adjusted 3 damn times and has come loose every single time on my car

probably be better off spending 10 dollars on a set of wheel chocks....

[htheduck]

You will need to pull the wheels, and adjust from the rear similar to adjusting a set of drum brakes.

[cooper232]

get underneath the rear of the car (i recommend to jack up one side at a time) you will see the back of the drums... pull out oval shaped rubber plug... you are looking at the "teeth" on the side of a gear... push them down until your wheel drags (drivers side) then push it back up one or two where it wont drag anymore. do the same on the other side but push up until it drags and then push it back down one or two notches. just did mine last week. works great now.

[spoolin05srt]

i agree with td1042k ....these parking brakes are as useful as hemoroids....lol

[stowaway]

if you don't do e-brake slides then it works just fine. I use it every time I park, never used it to slow me down, and it still holds me on my steep driveway.

[Overcome]

Been two years and I finally need to adjust it.

[d_fl8ted1]

they come in handy if you ever tried to drag race...... you use it to do the burnout.... so yes i can see where adjusting it helps....

[WaLkInGaLoNe]

Drum brakes as far as a parking brake are the best really. There is more surface area on the shoes to grab the "drum" area on the rotor. They are really easy to adjust and honestly you'll never replace the shoes, I never replaced my brake shoes on my ford tempo and I had the car 3 years. It will honestly take you more time to jack the car up then adjusting the parking brake.

[Hypurr]

Quote: Originally Posted by MikeGreen

hi, my parking was working great and now it seemed to come loose sometimes it holds fine other it starts rolling backwords and hit a curb....so now i have to fix it before it does more damage. Does anyone know how i can tighten up my parking brake? I was thinking it was on the cable but im not sure. thanks

WHy don't you check on a 2001 Neon forum. Since that is what you used fro your swap.

Or are you full of Shart?

[myjagis2fast]

Quote: Originally Posted by MikeGreen

hi, my parking was working great and now it seemed to come loose sometimes it holds fine other it starts rolling backwords and hit a curb....so now i have to fix it before it does more damage. Does anyone know how i can tighten up my parking brake? I was thinking it was on the cable but im not sure. thanks

I adjusted my parking brake and it works great now. Pull the wheel, take off the brake caliper and then the rotor. You will see a small gear like adjuster. turn it slightly. this will spread the shoes a bit. it doesn't do "that" much, but it does enough to keep the car from sliding down the hill

Good luck

[MASSSRT]

Quote: Originally Posted by cooper232

get underneath the rear of the car (i recommend to jack up one side at a time) you will see the back of the drums... pull out oval shaped rubber plug... you are looking at the "teeth" on the side of a gear... push them down until your wheel drags (drivers side) then push it back up one or two where it wont drag anymore. do the same on the other side but push up until it drags and then push it back down one or two notches. just did mine last week. works great now.

I've adjusted mine twice like this, takes 2 seconds and works great

[MASSSRT]

here : (in detail)
ADJUSTMENT
NOTE: The parking brake shoes used in the drumin-
hat park brake system do not automatically
adjust to compensate for brake shoe lining wear.
Therefore, it is necessary to manually adjust the
parking brake shoes.
(1) Verify the parking brake lever is in the
released position.
(2) Raise the vehicle. (Refer to LUBRICATION &
MAINTENANCE/HOISTING - STANDARD PROCEDURE).
(3) Remove the rubber plug from the adjusting
hole in the disc brake caliper adapter.
(4) Adjust the parking brakes. Use the first bullet
point for the adjustment of the left side parking
brake shoes. Use the second bullet point for the
adjustment of the right side parking brake shoes.
² Insert a medium size screwdriver through
adjustment hole in the left backing plate. Position
the screwdriver against the star wheel on the parking
brake shoe adjuster. Using the screwdriver,
rotate the star wheel downward until a slight drag is
noticed when turning the rear tire and wheel assembly.
Then, using the screwdriver, slowly rotate the
star wheel upward, backing off the adjuster, just
enough to allow the rear tire and wheel assembly to
rotate without the parking brake shoes dragging. Do
not back off the adjuster star wheel more than two
clicks past the point of no drag. The parking brake
shoe-to-drum clearance is now properly set.
² Insert a medium size screwdriver through
adjustment hole in the right backing plate. Position
the screwdriver against the star wheel on the parking
brake shoe adjuster. Using the screwdriver,
rotate the star wheel upward until a slight drag is
noticed when turning the rear tire and wheel assembly.
Then, using the screwdriver, slowly rotate the
star wheel downward, backing off the adjuster, just
enough to allow the rear tire and wheel assembly to
rotate without the parking brake shoes dragging. Do
not back off the adjuster star wheel more that two
clicks past the point of no drag. The parking brake
shoe-to-drum clearance is now properly set.
(5) Install the rubber plug in the adjusting holes of
the disc brake caliper adapter.
(6) Lower the vehicle until the rear tires are just
clearing the floor.
(7) Reach inside the vehicle and fully apply and
release the park brakes two times after adjusting the
parking brake shoes.
(8) With the parking brake lever in the fully
applied position, attempt to hand rotate each rear
tire and wheel assembly to ensure that the parking
brake shoes are working.
(9) With the parking brake lever in the released
position, hand rotate each rear tire and wheel assembly
to ensure that the parking brake shoes are not
dragging.