I was wondering on the 01.5 truck with the rear disk brakes,is the e-brake a seperate system or do they both work off the caliper? I never did the rea brakes myself i have onlt done the front ones when needs whenever5 the rear ones needed replacing i was to busy so it went to the shop. The reason i am asking is the e-brake on the truck dont grab no more i know their is an adjustment screw,but if their is seprate pads for the E-brake then they might need to be replaced. If you dont understand what i mean by seprate pads, i will explain. The rotor is like a top hat you got your disk for regular brake and the a drum for your e-brake,i have seen this setup on many other cars..

Thanks
Jeff

 

Thes have a drum brake contained within the hub. Not the most effective set-up due to the small diameter. Pretty hard to wear out unless you drive with brake on.

 

Inside this lil hole is a rubber plug. Pull the rubber plug out and inside the hole is a star wheel. I'm pretty sure to want to turn the wheel upwards to tighten.

The best way to set your E-brake pads are too...

Jack up the rear of the truck so the tires are off the ground. Then spin the starwheel till the pads start to grab. Then back off the starwheel till they stop rubbing. Then do the other side the same.

I've found the my e-brake pad now is only traveling halfway to the floor when it's set now! It will be a long time till I got to adjust again!

 

Not to sound dumb (not sure if this is common knowledge) but, I used a flat blade screw diver in the slot of the rubber piece to get it back in last time I adjusted mine.
The hole is recessed in there pretty good, if you place the rubber plug (slot) on screwdriver you can poke it in there pretty easy when your done. Then, just push aroing the edges to make sure it's seated.

I yank mine out with a small hook pick, just poking it from the inside (slot) into the meaty part of the plug (outside) pops right out.

 

PJ right... It easy to line up the plug this way but don't push to hard or you'll poke a new hole in the middle of it.

 

Correct, just get it set in there, then push around the outer edges where it's thick to seat in it.

 

Thanks for all the replys.
I'll try and adjust the brakes today,its suppose to be nice out for once(37*f).What kind of wrench or screw driver is needed to turn the adjustment?


Thanks
Jeff

 

Small straight blade, the passenger seems easier than the driver, I guess because where the cable enters on the drivers side.

I used a pretty much standard size screwdriver for mine.

Also, if your melon isn't too big, you can wedge it up between the cable and see a little better on the driver side if need be.

Just get a peek at what you're doing with t flashlight, that way you can get a feel for were to poke your screwdiver to get it to spin.

Oh, and follow MoparMan's instructions, he know's whats up.

 

Have a look inside the adjuster slot the best you can, and make sure it's not all oily in there from a seeping axle seal. That's a common cause of poor e-brake effectiveness.

 

Thanks..Going to have to wait a few more days it is to muddy to crawl under the truck..I dont think the axel seal is shot because the ebrake will grab if i forget it is on when i go to back up it.So i dont think it is oily..

Thanks
Jeff