Adjusted my emergency brake, thoughts.... (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Oct 27, 2003
Threads
470
Messages
9,785
Location
North Cadillac
Sorry, i forgot to take pics. It was 100 degrees outside and i just wanted to get it finished so she would pass inspection. Anyways, it was a very simple procedure. I would rank it as a :banana: job. Jacked the rear axle up and put it on stands. Took off the wheels. Unbolted the two bolts holding the caliper on and gently bungeed the caliper up and out of the way. Then unbolted the two bolts holding the caliper retaining thingy on (hope that wasn't too technical for yall :flipoff2: ). After than just pulled the rear disk straight off. At the bottom of the brake shoe assembly there is an adjustment mechanism, almost like a hollow threaded bolt with a fork on each side. One side is threaded while the other is not. Twisted the threaded thingy a couple of times to add more tension, put the rotor back on and pulled the ebrake to make sure i could't spin the rotor. Then bolted the two caliper dealys back on and put the tires back on and passed inspection. That's about it. Not bad at all.

Any questions?
 
concretejungle said:
Twisted the threaded thingy a couple of times to add more tension, put the rotor back on and pulled the ebrake to make sure i could't spin the rotor. Then bolted the two caliper dealys back on and put the tires back on and passed inspection. That's about it. Not bad at all.
Any questions?

I have a question. Why did you go to all that trouble as opposed to removing the adjuster plug, using an adjustment tool and doing it through the adjuster slot?
 
Isn't the e-brake mechanism supposed to self adjust automatically by engaging it several times or backing up? Or do you have to do this manual adjustment? From what I saw when I was replacing a wheel stud was it is basically a drum brake, but only for the e-brake. From my old 88-4runner all I had to do to tighten the e-brake was to pull the in-cab handle several times for it to auto-adjust. Am I correct in thinking this will also work on the LC?
 
elmariachi said:
I have a question. Why did you go to all that trouble as opposed to removing the adjuster plug, using an adjustment tool and doing it through the adjuster slot?


Cause, i didn't know what i was doing exactly, it was also very hard to see in that tiny hole especially when you have a screw driver stuck in it. So i just pulled the rotor so i could see exactly what i was doing.
 
concretejungle said:
Cause, i didn't know what i was doing exactly, it was also very hard to see in that tiny hole especially when you have a screw driver stuck in it. So i just pulled the rotor so i could see exactly what i was doing.

Now that you put it that way, it makes sense. But for those who don't know, there is a rubber plug in the back of the brake backing plate that can be removed and using a standard brake adjustment tool, you can rotate the little clicker/tensioner to increase or decreae shoe contact against the drum. Again, the FSm details this process. One nice thing about taking the drum off is you can inspect and clean the brake assembly.
 
gbell210 said:
Isn't the e-brake mechanism supposed to self adjust automatically by engaging it several times or backing up? Or do you have to do this manual adjustment? From what I saw when I was replacing a wheel stud was it is basically a drum brake, but only for the e-brake. From my old 88-4runner all I had to do to tighten the e-brake was to pull the in-cab handle several times for it to auto-adjust. Am I correct in thinking this will also work on the LC?


Ebrake will not self adjust on an 80 w/ disk you must manually adjust it.
 
elmariachi said:
Why did you go to all that trouble as opposed to removing the adjuster plug, using an adjustment tool and doing it through the adjuster slot?

Can you explain that alittle clearer? Is the adjustment tool a special tool? Would one do this on both rear brakes?

I am looking at the FSM and I can't find anything about it.
 
phatairman said:
Can you explain that alittle clearer? Is the adjustment tool a special tool? Would one do this on both rear brakes?

I am looking at the FSM and I can't find anything about it.

FSM Section BR...page BR-23 in a 1997 manual, sub-section entitled Parking Brake Assembly.

First look at the exploded diagram of the rear brake components. Look for the horizontal assembly called the adjuster. It has a cog on it with teeth. On the back of the brake backplate, there is a small oval rubber plug. Take it out. Using a $6.00 brake adjustment tool that looks like a thin bent screwdriver, you stick it in the slot and adjust the cog click by click by leveraging the tool up or down. You'll need to have the wheel jacked up to feel which way to move the clicker to tighten the brake shoes against the drum. The FSM says to disconnect the parking cable from the bellcrank, though I don't always do that. Then turn the adjuster and expand the shoes until the disc locks, then back off the adjuster 8 clicks.
 
elmariachi said:
FSM Section BR...page BR-23 in a 1997 manual, sub-section entitled Parking Brake Assembly.

First look at the exploded diagram of the rear brake components. Look for the horizontal assembly called the adjuster. It has a cog on it with teeth. On the back of the brake backplate, there is a small oval rubber plug. Take it out. Using a $6.00 brake adjustment tool that looks like a thin bent screwdriver, you stick it in the slot and adjust the cog click by click by leveraging the tool up or down. You'll need to have the wheel jacked up to feel which way to move the clicker to tighten the brake shoes against the drum. The FSM says to disconnect the parking cable from the bellcrank, though I don't always do that. Then turn the adjuster and expand the shoes until the disc locks, then back off the adjuster 8 clicks.

I just looked in the FSM and it really doens't help much at all. Are you sure there is an adjustment hole in the back? I couldn't find one when I adjusted my parking brake out use the hole that is in the rotor to adjust the adjuster.
 
Just to add to the confusion, if you over tighten the shoes through the hole, you'll then need to stick yet another inplement in there to release the ratcheting arm tso you can spin the adjusting cog backwards.
 
Derek, i also thought the FSM was a little confusing on the adjustment, another reason i took the extra 2 minutes to pull the rotor/drum off and look at everything. As stated above, it was also a good time to clean everything up in there which i did.
 
landtank said:
Just to add to the confusion, if you over tighten the shoes through the hole, you'll then need to stick yet another inplement in there to release the ratcheting arm tso you can spin the adjusting cog backwards.

Rick, are you sure? IIRC I thought you could click the adjuster in either direction. No?
 
elmariachi said:
Rick, are you sure? IIRC I thought you could click the adjuster in either direction. No?


Looks like another DVD is on the way :flipoff2: ............just kidding. :bounce:
 
I thought the little rubber plug to access the adjuster was in the rotors?

Charlie
 
there is more to it to fully adjust the parking brake system, if just adjusting the shoes gets the desired effect then go with it, but if you need more,

1. Remove both ends of the cable form the bell cranks,
2. Take all adjustment out of the bell cranks (back the screw out until the rubber stop is resting against the bell crank and not the brake backing plate)
3. with the rotor installed and held in place with 2 lug nuts adjust the star wheel until the shoes are close but not touching the drum/rotor and maybe a little extra space, cycle the bell crank by hand often wile adjusting to let the shoes settle to their new spot. Spin the rotor and listen to make sure the shoes do not drag at any point.
4. remove the rotor and adjust the bell crank stops to take out the slop until they are very close to actuating the pads, with the rotor removed you will be able to see where the bell crank makes it input. You want it close as possible but not touching.
5. Reinstall the cable ends, the cable is adjusted at the handle, you want the cable to be close to but not pulling the bell cranks off their stops.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom