Parking Brake Drum too tight

[bgray]

Hi All,

I just replaced shoes and springs on my 11/72 FJ40 parking brake. When I slide on the drum, it is pretty tight. I can get the drum on all the way without too much force and can still turn it by hand, but the shoes are dragging hard -- not lightly touching. I pulled it off a few times, but I'm not seeing the issue. Shoes came from SOR. Can you tell if anything is wrong from the pics below?

Thanks!!

 

[3doghouse]

Looks right to me.

When you say "dragging hard," how hard is it? Can you turn it fairly easily with one hand, or is it a major strain with both hands?

 

[fromme]

Turn the adjuster to the first click so its in the cam indention. Then put the drum on and pull the parking brake lever tight and then loosen it up. See if that helps. Sometimes the shoes just need to be centered better.

 

[bgray]

Thanks for the responses. I can turn the drum with one hand, so it isn't overly tight, but it does drag more than I prefer on two corners (see new pics). I did as you said and put the drum on and pulled the parking brake a few times and it did help. It's still dragging a bit, but I actually think it's fine. Let me know if you feel otherwise, my thought it to check it again after I run it for 30 minutes or so.

I did verify that the adjuster is in the first cam indent, so they are as far closed as possible from an adjuster perspective. thanks.

Brian

 

[inkpot]

Howdy! From thw size of the contact patch, I would just take a wee bit off with a file or sandpaper. It is only a very small percent of the entire area. You could also check the pivot points on both shoes for any burrs that might cause it to ride a little high. John

 

[landcrusher909]

I will try to explain what we had to do we also ordered pads from SOR and did not get the upgraded spring and adjuster bracket. The SOR pads are the same as the old factory pads the diffrence is the metal is thicker on the SOR pad than the OEM pad metal part. so when we went to slide the pads into the adjuster I ended up shaving ( grinding ) the sides of the metal to fit into the adjuster ( hope this is making some sence ) you might not have the lower part of the pads completly into the adjuster. that might make up more than a 1/8 to 1/4 inch of space. Thats the best way I can explain it

 

[landcrusher909]

This looks tight you might want to grind/sand this down dome so you have a looser fit all the way out to the end of the adjuster

 

[fieldsken1]

oh hell after you drive around awhile it will wear down

 

[bgray]

Thanks guys.

Landcrusher: Thanks for the explanation. It makes sense. As it turns out, I put everything together before getting your input, so I'll go ahead and run it for a bit and then check it out. It if still seems to be dragging, I'll pull it apart and grind it down a bit per your suggestion.

 

[landcrusher909]

Thanks guys.

Landcrusher: Thanks for the explanation. It makes sense. As it turns out, I put everything together before getting your input, so I'll go ahead and run it for a bit and then check it out. It if still seems to be dragging, I'll pull it apart and grind it down a bit per your suggestion.

Just keep an eye on it if its dragging to much your going to create some heat now I dont know for sure I am just thinking outside the box but you might heat the drum up enough to transfer the heat and warp the seal inside the rear of the T/case or not

 

[bgray]

Good point landcrusher. Better to take the time up front. I'm heading out of town for a week, but will pull it apart again when I return and clean it up.

 

[Richard R]

just take the drum and the shoes to a old fit the shoes to the drum, should not cost much.fastion brake shop and have them

 

[Richard R]

Hit the wrong key.
take the shoes and drum and have them radiused to fit.

 

[edwjmcgrath]

It's fine. If you've ever adjusted drum brakes you know that properly adjusted drum brakes will drag when they are first adjusted. Once you drive with it a while, the high spots wear off and they loosen up.

E brakes are meant to stop a multithousand pound vehicle in an emergency. If you can turn the drum with one hand, it's not overly tight and not going to overheat.

IMO you should declare success and move onto the next job on your list.

 

[Pighead]

Drive it.

 

[RattleCan]

Bump for a great solution. The previous post by landcrusher is spot on. The aftermarket parking brake shoes are made with a thicker metal body pieces and nothing really fits right. Nothing a grinder cant fix, but sure is a hassle.

Just did this job and had this problem so this is a heads up for anyone thinking of fixing there parking brake soon. Call cdan and get the OEM stuff and avoid the hassle.