Parking brake adjustment

[FamilyCamper]

How tough was the bellcrank replacement? Mine are both seized and was hoping to get them changed prior to winter. THanks

It was not too difficult. Hardest part was all of the springs and two small circular clips that hold it all together. Getting them off is pretty easy but getting them back on can be really annoying and it helps a lot to have an extra hand to hold the back of it when you are pushing it back on. I made sure to take pictures and videos as I was going through but it makes it easy to have the other side of the vehicle to look at for reference!

I think my tips are definitely have vice grips for the springs, get someone to help you hold different parts when reassembling everything. Spray a lot of free all and order any parts that look like they brake when taking it apart. I had to replace the bolts that hold the bell crank on. Here is a link describing the process and how to adjust it once you have it on which really helped me.

 

[cartelcruiser]

View attachment 2058820View attachment 2058821

Have an LX 470, and it failed inspection because the parking brake lever has slack and doesn’t lay flush/low enough to avoid tripping the light.

I’ve tried these adjustments but can’t get the space out of the cable/lever. Has anyone else experienced this? If I push down the lever with 1 finger (ever so slightly), the BRAKE light goes off. As soon as I lift my finger the lever raises about 1.5 inches and the light trips again. Am I missing an adjustment point somewhere?

 

[hoser]

@cartelcruiser Perhaps there is a foreign object in the parking brake handle mechanism that is causing the issue?

 

[cartelcruiser]

@cartelcruiser Perhaps there is a foreign object in the parking brake handle mechanism that is causing the issue?

Pulled the center console and don’t see any obstruction. Really puzzled as to how it has this much slack that causes it to rest upward

 

[hoser]

The circled part is where the cable fastens. If the cable was "pushing" it would only push past the fastener. I would look a little closer at the lever. You can even disconnect the cable and see what's going on.

 

[uHu]

Have an LX 470, and it failed inspection because the parking brake lever has slack and doesn’t lay flush/low enough to avoid tripping the light.

I’ve tried these adjustments but can’t get the space out of the cable/lever. Has anyone else experienced this? If I push down the lever with 1 finger (ever so slightly), the BRAKE light goes off. As soon as I lift my finger the lever raises about 1.5 inches and the light trips again. Am I missing an adjustment point somewhere?

I guess you have checked in this area:

 

[cartelcruiser]

The circled part is where the cable fastens. If the cable was "pushing" it would only push past the fastener. I would look a little closer at the lever. You can even disconnect the cable and see what's going on.
View attachment 3708514

Got it, now I get what you meant about something foreign being in there. The Cable is resting where it should be.

 

[cartelcruiser]

Visually I see no obstruction or foreign object. If you push the lever down to the console and release it, it springs up with enough force to push the parking into the first “click” of it being activated. It’s almost like there’s a spring that’s lodged somewhere. It’s the craziest thing

 

[cartelcruiser]

After further inspection, the cable connecting to the lever has the slack inside the console portion. From lever to console exit port. It does not retract in any way when at rest. It also does not extend or add anymore length when pulled all the way to engage the brake. I'm thinking the fix is just to replace the cable altogether.

 

[frawstme]

Yes, it's exactly like adjusting brakes on a 40.

Actually seriously it just about is. If the 100's e-brake setup is like the 80's, which I think it is then the e-brake is merely a drum brake inside of a clever drum/rotor setup.

Two things can be adjusted, you can adjust the handle and you can adjust the actual shoes in the e-brake. To adjust the shoes it's just like a 40, only for some reason I think you adjust them from the wheel-side of the drum/rotor, so you can't do it with the tire on (memory is a bit vague here sorry). Ideally you would adjust the actual shoes with a screwdriver (normal turny/clicky adjustment) until they are closer to touching but not actually touching, you don't want them to drag, I'm sure there is some official backing off from when you can't turn them or whatever. Then on the brake backing plate there is a thing called a bellcrank, all this does is provide preload on the actual shoes, this is where the e-brake cable connect, there is a set-screw that you adjust so the bellcrank can't go all the way back to the brake backing plate. I guess the idea of this is so the cable keeps semi-snug atleast, since it doesn't actually adjust the pulling, it just adjusts how much of the slack goes back then you stop pulling the e-brake handle. The combination of the bellcrank and adjusting the actual shoes lets you either have the shoes adjusted quite a way down (smaller), but then provide more preload with the bellcrank (so it's like the handle is always pulled a bit), or have the shoes adjusted up tighter and have no preload. (I guess 'preload' isn't a good word for it, since it's not a constant pulling force, it's just how much brake-shoe slack you're already taking up).

Once you do that, then it's just a matter of adjusting the adjustment at the handle, which sometimes isn't even necessary.

The only reason I can see to use the bellcranks to take up some slack on the brake-shoes is so that taking-up-slack force is not transmitted on the actual cable. Instead of adjusting the bellcranks to take the brake-shoe slack up you could just adjust the cable at the handle more, but then the cable would be bearing the tension of keeping that slack pulled up all the time, maybe that's a bad thing and that's why the bellcrank let's you take up the slack and still have the cable snug but not actually holding any real weight.

I have some pictures of this when I did it on my 80, but don't have them here at work...hopefully this makes some sense at all (doubtful).

The simplest way is to just try to adjust the cable at the handle, if it has any adjustment left, if so then tighten that and it might be fine after that.

Good Luck..

let me poke in on a post from 22 years ago, youve probably lived half a life since then

I understand adjusting the starwheel inside the rotors, and the connecting line between the wheels. What im having a hard time with right now and cant seem to find any real information on (which is why ive dug this far back)- how do you adjust equilibrium correctly? right now my right hand side fully engages before my left hand side does at all because for some reason the slack on the line is uneven. I see a bump stop type bolt on each wheel, on the right side that bolt is lifted almost an inch more than the other side when the parking brake isn't even engaged.

How do you adjust the pull from one side to the other to make it even?

I did my adjustment this way:
1) ebrake off, wheels off
2) adjust starwheels to be as close to rotors as possible (without touching)
3) adjust bolt on line to get rid of any slack


i thought this was basically the full process and I don't understand what causes my left side to not be able to engage

 

[Live to Ski]

fsm? if u need the appropriat section, let me know

nota bene: in my experience, most shops (in cluding dealers) wii not adjust correctly. they are impatient due to ignorance.

 

[uHu]

@frawstme , your steps are not according to the FSM. Listen to Live to Skibum.
The FSM procedure is very particular, and not as most mechanics expect it to be. If you follow it, the result will be good.

There are two conditions which will give an unbalanced result: #1 is if the cranks going through the backplate of each hub are not moving freely. My experience is that they need cleaning and lubing once a year. #2 is if the arm that attaches the end of the brake wire to the rear axle housing is not moving freely.
The hand brake in the 100 is important to keep in top shape. When the main brakes fail (not if, but when) it might be the only thing that can save you. E-brake and pushing the pedal like you want to break (no pun) it.