im wondering what, if anything i can do or adjust, to get my parking brake working better? or if i just need to replace some things.

first off, the ebrake pedal is really hard to push. and i have to push it as far as i can go for it to work. and even still its very weak and cant really hold against the weight of my truck and an incline.

any suggestions?

 

First off, are your rear brakes out of adjustment? There are a few write ups about checking them. Second, If the pedal is hard to push before it even starts to apply the brakes, your cables are probably starting to corrode and should be lubed up or replaced. Last, you can shorten the length of the front e-brake cable by turning the nuts on the adjuster where the front and rear cables meet to get more use of the pedal travel.

 

If you have only recently got the truck, or only try to apply the park-brake once in a blue moon, then most likely the cables have swollen with rust and are siezing inside the housings.

If so, when you do get them pulled enough to apply the brakes, the springs will not be strong enough to over-ride the corrossion and the brakes will drag heavily.


If any of the above should be the case, then the first thing you should do is to completely replace both cables that connect to the rear brakes.


To adjust, FIRST, you must properly adjust the shoes on both rear brakes.

Once the shoes are in proper adjustment, then park-brake pedal travel is adjusted at the point along the left frame-rail where the single cable from the cab connects to the left and right cables that go to each wheel.



Once you get it all new and nicely adjusted, set the park-brake EVERY TIME that you park the truck, always, forever and for all time to come.


Park-brakes are one thing where seldom using them will soon destroy them; the more you use them, the better they work.

 

I concur. Not just for safety, but an unused parking brake stops working when really needed. I use them everytime to excersize the linkages. I've replaced many rust swollen cables on different trucks, and it didn't happen from using them often, that's for sure.

 

A couple of months ago I adjusted my rear brakes just as the previous posters mentioned and it not only made the truck stop better, but also made the parking brake work much more efficiently. It takes hardly any pedal travel now to get the parking brake to engage properly.

I'll third using the parking brake all the time. It just astounds me how many people don't use them and just leave the vehicle in park. I watch people load the back of a truck or a trailer with the transmission only being in park but no parking brake on and the truck just rocks back and forth on the transmission. Or, they'll park on a slight incline just leaving the weight of the vehicle on "park" in the transmission. Not good.

 

And if you've every had an auto tranny apart and actually looked at the small rod, and the teeth it engages, you would never trust your vehicle to a park brake again.

I agree with the others, you probably have, at least one of the previously mentioned issues going on with your rear braking system. I would start with the rear brake adjustment and then slowly work your way forward component by component.

 

thanx for all the great info.

i got the truck a few months ago. its a standard.
the first time i drove it, i noticed a LOT of heat coming off the rear brakes after i parked. This stopped happening after my first couple drives.

since i got the truck, i been using the e brake everytime i park.
Ill try adjusting the rear brakes then tightening the E brake. see if that improves things.

also, when im parking uphill in standard, should i put it in first gear? and then when downhill, should i put it in reverse?

 

The lower the gear, the better it will hold the truck; regardless of direction of incline, REVERSE is a good choice to leave it in.


Were I you, I would go ahead and install new rear cables.

While you are in that deep, just go ahead and do the whole rear brake bit.

There are a few tricks that you can also employ to get even better brakes; convert to 3-inch shoes if it only has the 2-1/2s, replace the wheel-cylinders with GM 1-ton units = bigger bore and more displacement, etc.


Take a three-cornered file to the star-wheel adjusters and sharpen/deepen the teeth.

Wire-wheel brush the star-wheel threads and coat them with anti-sieze.


Submerge the brand-new park-brake cables, while they are still nicely coiled, in a pan of hot oil and leave them soak for a couple days.

 

Double post....

 

When you have the rear drums apart you can check your E-brake cables. Disconnect everything from the cables, front and rear, then tub on them in each direction with a pair of pliers. If you can pull them easily from the drivers side mount, and they spring back with ease then they are fine.

Mine were starting to seize up, and I could pull them and they wouldn't release. So since I had the cable pulled out all the way I put on some air tool oil on the cables then went around and pulled them back at the backing plates. Did this for quite some time from both directions, back and forth, air tool oil, back and forth, etc....When I was done they worked like brand new. Mine were not rusty though, just dirty, dirty.

 

I replaced EVERYTHING on my 93. All 3 cables and all brake hardware. I still have a crappy e brake. Its adjusted so the pedal will not go all the way down and the rear brakes are adjusted. I just gave up. My 89 has great hold both forwards and backwards. Even the 92 with crusty cables and who knows how old rear brakes work much better.