My park brake is kind of weak is this normal. It won't hold my pickup on a boat ramp. or on a hill with my heavy camper on it. the foot peddle goes almost all the way to the bottom. but it feels firm on the peddle. I know this is the little drum inside my rear disk brake rotors. the regular brake pads look fine, so I hate to tear into this but I would think that they should hold alot better.

p.s. this is the pickup in my signture.

Thanks,

Joe

 

Just did mine this weekend. You probably dont need to replace the park brake pads. It most likely just needs adjusting. There is a starwheel located on both rears behind a little rubber plug. On the driver side its above the axle, on the pass. side its below the axle. Turn the wheel till its starts tightening up. One starwheel gets turned UP and the other gets turned DOWN. I cant remember right now which side goes which direction.

After this adjustment, my brake is fully set by moving the pedal about 2 inches.

 

Yes you need to adjust the park brake. However don't expect much more holding ability. Park brakes were never intended to be hill holding devices with a trailer hooked up. You would be well advised to secure some good old fashioned tire blocks like airplanes use.

 

mine will barely hold the truck on a gentle slope. when mashing the pedal it feels like it is really streching the cable.

 

Mine are on the squishy side too. Can't trust it holding any sort of weight.

 

I guess that's one advantage of the drum brakes over the discs...my parking brake will keep quite a bit stationary (as long as they're adjusted right).

Still thinking I'd rather have the better stopping power of discs though....

 

I adjusted mine last fall. The parking brake was almost non-existant.
Look carefully at the inside of the rear wheel brake backer plate.
You should see a rubber plug covering the parking brake adjustment
port. Just like a regular drum brake. If you have a posi rear end you
need to jack up the whole rear axle to adjust. I set mine for a slight
drag and then backed 'em off 2-3 clicks. Works fine now.

PARKING BRAKE
DESCRIPTION – 2500/3500 WITH REAR DISC
BRAKES
The parking brakes are operated by a system of
cables and levers attached to a primary and secondary
shoe positioned within the drum section of the
rotor.
The drum-in-hat design utilizes an independent set
of shoes to park the vehicle (Fig. 64).

 

I suggest keeping it simple before anything else. When I first got my 01 3500 the p-brake was weak. Check the cable adjustment then move on from there. Thats all it was for me. Just lots of play in the cable. E

 

You dont adjust the p-brake with the cable tensioner under the cab! The proper way is to adjsut at the starwheel as stated earlier. Turn the drivers side DOWN to spread the shoes. Turn the passenger side UP to spread the shoes. Buy me a beer and I'll tell you how I know this!

Kurt

 

I had the same issue with my truck. I put on a Mico lock. This is the unit I installed http://http://www.mico.com/products/...info.php?id=43 I have had it in for several months and really like it.
The Mico lock uses the regular brakes to hold the truck. In my case I used the brake line for the rear wheels. The Mico lock does not interfer with the ABS.
Stan

 

Is this an early 01 with drums, or late with discs? Makes a difference, but either way...like has been said, the e-brake isn't going to hold a load on a hill...or even your truck on a steep incline. Wheel chocks are always a good idea.