Proper adjustment for parking brake?

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Hey guys..

Anyone have specifics on how the parking brake is supposed to be set?

Everything is new in the rear including brake cables. Brakes feel good but the parking brakes do nothing. The rear cables move the shoes... so I must not have them adjusted right. With the pedal released, there is just a tiny amount of slack in the cables.

Perhaps I need to manually adjust the shoes... I never did. I figured the new adjusters would do their job.

 

[madpogue]

What year truck?

ALWAYS start by manually adjusting the shoes. This is just as important for the hydraulic brakes as for the parking brake.

 

[79jasper]

The way I used to do it:
Jack the rear tires off the ground (only have to do one side for open diff) and tighten while spinning. Once I felt a light drag, I called that good.
Now I can feel for the tension of the adjuster while turning.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

I hadnt rebuilt drums in a LONG time... then I decided to rebuild the whole axle and regear it.

I just backed it in the shop and will manually adjust the rears and go from there. I thought the pedal was riding a bit low on stopping. I had fully flushed the brake system after swapping in the new rear this week. Stops good but the pedal is a bit low.

I jacked it up and gave the tires a spin... made more then a full rotation with a 140# worth of rubber on each side. Yeah I'd say they are a bit loose still.

The truck is a '90 350. Once I get the shoes adjusted, how much slack should be in the pb cable at the splitter?

I just finished the axle build... everything that moves from the cab back is new. New wheel bearings, seals, new carrier and pinion bearings, 4.88 gears, new raybestos 3" shoes and drums, master hardware kits including adjusters, and dually wheel cylinders (1.25" bore vs 1"). New energy suspension bushings everywhere... new shackles.. hangers.. and bilstein shocks. Was a fun week. Lol Also had the LSD checked out while it was being regeared and they said the clutches were in great shape.

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Ok... shoes are adjusted and it stops great now... still no parking brake.

I adjusted the slack out of the cable and with the tires off the ground, I cant turn the tires by hand with the brake set... but it still wont hold the weight of the truck on anything more then flat ground...

So.. is there a procedure to adjusting the parking brake? I know the cables are moving the shoes on both sides (can hear them move when I pull on the cables)... but the foot pedal just isnt moving the cables far enough. The pedal doesn't get much resistance to it.

Mine does have the manual adjustment built into the cable on the driver's side where all 3 cables come together... just don't know how tight it should be. It is currently just set to take out the slack and that's it... but apparently that isn't enough.

Thanks

 

[UMR_Engnr]

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Make sure the assembly above is still within spec (its on the outward face of the driver side frame rail). You can tighten the equalizer nut to take up some slack. I believe the theory is that the cinch strap will straighten out if there is too much pressure put on the cable. Maybe yours is all stretched out and needs to be replaced. Mine looked brand new. With my equalizer nut in the spec'd range, a few clicks on the parking brake will hold my 7000lb truck on my inclined driveway no problem.

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Yeah... That's what I needed. Mine isn't ran down anywhere near that far. I'll run it down a bit more and see how it does. Thanks!