Rear Brake Question (1 Viewer)

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BROKEROB1

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Jul 19, 2004
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Location
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I am finally getting around to doing my brakes on this rig. I fininshed new pads, rotors, seals, etc up front and did all rear work, including, pads, rotors, etc yesterday. All parts are OEM (thanks Crusier Dan).

My passenger side rear bell crank was frozen and when I disassembled, I found that both shoes were fried (as suspected). I went through the steps in FSM to start from beginning and adjust parking brake, freeing and lubing bell cranks, etc. Of course, I ended up snapping both small 10 mm stops, as they were rusted beyond salvage.

I now have everything adjusted (completely loose, including setting on interior of vehicle on actual hand lever) and I had real trouble getting the new rr rotor on. I trimmed the new shoe carefully and evenly, but it was still a REALLY snug fit. When the wheel is back on, I can BARELY turn the wheel by hand, because the shoes are dragging.

My question is this.... should the fitment be this tight (of course, I am thinking no..... reason for my post)? If not, what else can I do?

At 10:30 last night, I was leaning toward just taking the truck out for a drive and letting the excess just "bed off". I am glad that I slept on it b/c that does not seem like the best option today.

Any thoughts or ideas would be apprciated... I do not post much because I am limited on the banana scale but I always appreciate to knowledge I pick up on this board:)

Thanks in advance
 
I'd just back the shoes off a couple clicks and put it back on so that there is a very slight drag when turning the wheel. If there is no catch anywhere else in the system causing it to stay engaged then that should fix yer problem.
Good luck,
Dan
 
I think what he is saying is that he is already all the way backed off and it still drags too much.

I didn't pull the rotors and check the p-brake when I did the rear brakes. Just a quick pad swap. I'm wishing now that I had done a more thorough job. At about 2K miles I'm already getting a little squeaking in the back and the p-brake is virtually non-existent. I'm probably going to end up pulling everything and replacing the p-brake shoes as well. I'll be interested to hear how this one comes out.

I haven't looked into it at all yet, but aren't the p-brakes 100% cable operated? There isn't any hydraulic issue to worry about, right? If not, the cable might be hung up somewhere and not releasing all the way. I have seen that before. I had a 10 speed that it happened to once. The cable was a little frayed and wouldn't retract into the cable sheath all the way. Just a thought...

Steve
 
Steve,
You are correct, all is already as loose as possible--I have major slack. The stops are way out and, the adjusting nut under the brake is to the end, and the shoe adjuster at the rear wheel is completely tight/compacted. I followed the cable up through the front of the truck and things seemed in order (it was pretty muddy, though:).

You are also correct in your statement about the e-brake being 100% cable operated. I could always throw the old shoes back on, but they have virtually no pad area left:(
 
You might try it with the old shoes and see if they fit without problems. If they allow everything to slide right in, the shoes are probably the problem. If the old shoes bind things up too, you might have a better idea where to look next.

Steve
 
dont drive with binding shoes or you will cook the rotors , more expense , sounds like a new H Brake cable is needed . Probably seized solid. 80 series h brakes need VERY CAREFULL adjusting. Good luck mate.
 
BROKEROB1 said:
My question is this.... should the fitment be this tight (of course, I am thinking no..... reason for my post)? If not, what else can I do?

At 10:30 last night, I was leaning toward just taking the truck out for a drive and letting the excess just "bed off". I am glad that I slept on it b/c that does not seem like the best option today.

DON'T try driving to wear off the excess - it just ain't gonna happen. You will damage the linings (glaze them) and overheat the entire rotor, risking warpage.

The best way to deal with tight shoes (if in fact they are - your cable may indeed be the problem) is to rotate the rotor by hand a few revs and remove it. You will see the contact points by the shiny smooth apprearance on the shoe linings. Carefully file down the high spots and try again. Each time you will take a little more off until the shoes are free.

In my personal experinece it is crazy to install new shoes in an very old rotor - the parts simply don't match up well. If you have the old rotor's parking brake surface turned, then the mismatch is even worse due to the larger internal diameter. I recommend new shoes in new rotors. Expensive, but everything fits perfectly and you won't have to worry about poor performance.

John Davies
 
John, I have already carefully shaved some excess off of the new shoe. I went from not being able to get the new rotor on at all to having it fully slide on, just really tight. In fact, your method of pushing the rotor on did work well in seeing the area that was binding and I was able to focus my trimming in that area. As mentioned, I did install all new rotors. The passenger's side bell crank was fully seized for a long time and the driver's side operated normally. The pads on the seized side I replaced, and the driver's side pads were still well within stock specs, according to FSM.

It seems I may have a cable problem, by some of the suggestions, so I am going to take a really close look at that tonight. Besides the obvious binding/fraying, is there a way to tell if I need a new cable? Thanks for some of the thoughts so far.
 

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