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1999 F-250 Super Duty, automatic trans.
I just replaced the rear brakes, new pads (old calipers) and new rotors.
Before I did this the emergency brake was basically useless, didn’t do anything to hold the truck. After the brake work the E brake is still not very good. I adjusted the star wheel to the point where I could just hear the shoes touching the ‘drum’ (when I turn the tire/wheel) and the E brake pedal seems to not go down as far when I apply it, but still it does very little to hold the truck. If I push down on the pedal as hard as I can, it just holds the truck still at idle in drive!!The main brakes work really well and I’m very happy with them now.
Any ideas, comments on the emergency brakes? I know some people think they are not needed because there is the ‘park brake’ in the transmission, but I would like the emergency brake to work if I can do it.
Thanks in advance,
Gord
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I’d check for slack in the brake cable from the pedal to the Y where it branches off ahead of the differential and wyes off to the brake assemblies on the separate rear wheels. You’ll also find a fitting that allows you to pull out the slack I believe it’s located at the Y. If it’s not there check below the floor at the pedal or on the pedal itself. Before you do that, I’d release some of the tension on the star wheels and retension the whole rig.
check that your parking brake component are lubricated.
also check that there is a enough lining material. if you
can put the truck in gear and it holds with a little gas then
its working correctly.Are the backing plates rotted? if they are the pins for the e brake shoes are probably not holding, which wont put any tension on the shoes. e brakes are very important, the park brake inside the transmission is deceiving to most, it is really just a small piece of metal that get wedged on the output shaft. on my 05 durango i have the same problem, i need new backing plates and a cable. the plates are rusted and flex, and the cable is worn out and stretches a week after i adjust it. good luck!
I don’t think I have EVER seen a 5+ year old vehicle with an automatic transmission where the owner does not religiously use the parking park every time the car is parked where the cables are not frozen up with dirt and rust.
Perhaps if the cable itself was stainless steel and the sleeve that it rides inside of was lined with silicon/nylon/UHMWP … But very few if any customers ever complain.
Getting a frozen parking/emergency brake cable working again after not using it for a long time is very difficult and the repair is not likely to last long.
Thanks to everyone for your replies. Everyone seemed to think the problem was with the cables… rusted/frozen. I got a chance today to have a look and all the cables seemed to be working OK. I got my ‘lovely assistant’ to operate and release the park braked while I watched everything with the wheels/rotors off. Everything seemed to be moving and I could see the leaver moving the brake shoe out. Strange that it seems to move only one shoe, but it may work like ‘normal’ drum brakes where one shoe sort of pushes on the other??? or maybe with the drum on, it will push the other shoe as well? Not sure.
Anyway, the shoes looked like they had lots of material left on them so I just ‘buffed’ them up a bit with some sandpaper and washed the whole thing down with brake clean. I also tried to get some anti-size in between the working parts, kind of hard when it’s still together. Which brings up another point… I had ideas of changing the shoes but I really could not see a good way to get them off!! There is really very little room between the hub, where the wheel lug studs attach and the brake shoes. I think I know what has to happen there are three springs that need to come off as well as two hold down clips, but I’ll be darned if I know how I’m supposed to get in there to remove/install them!
So I cleaned everything up and put it back together. In the service manual it talks about ‘burnishing’ new brake shoes by driving at about 30 MPH and put the transmission in neutral then stopping the truck with the emergency/park brake. I did this and after, the brake seemed to be a bit better. I don’t know if it was the cleaning/sanding or the burnishing, but I think the park brake is acceptable now. It’s still not great, but I think it’s better than it was.
Thanks again very much to everyone.
Gord
I could never understand how anyone thought tiny shoes like that could hold a heavy truck. Stupid manufaturers. I have never seen one hold well yet.
I get to repair a lot of these and the climate here,plus the generous use of salt and calcium chloride they use on winter roads is a huge problem. I find that the biggest problem is the levers and the actuators that apply the shoes sieze up.
Sometimes the backing plates do rust out especially on GM trucks but all have the problem.
With the rotors removed have a helper apply the park brake and make sure both shoes move on both sides. If ok the problem is worn shoes or not adjusted tight enough. If they don’t move you will need to remove the actuators,free them up and lube them well. While the cables are disconnected from the levers you can check the operation of the cables in regard to sticking and or damage.
While not impossible to do you can remove the shoes and actuators with the axles or hubs depending on the truck model still on the truck but i prefer to remove them. It makes the job much easier.
Thank you so much oh wyse one!!
I was wondering about removing the hubs/axles, but I was too chicken :ohmy:
I’ll use the brakes as is for now but keep it in mind if they get worse.Cheers,
GordCheck out Eric’s videos on replacing drum brakes. He’s replacing regular drum brakes versus parking brakes, but the principles are about the same. I just replaced them on my 2002 Camry. It was my first ever drum brake job. It wasn’t too bad except for the spring washers that hold the shoes in place while you’re hooking up the strut and top springs. I bought the Harbor Freight brake took kit that Eric shows pictured in his writeups for under $10. It had a spring washer tool, but I couldn’t use it because the washers were under the wheel hub. I managed to change one of them with just my thumbs, but it was NOT easy. I changed 2 of the other 3 with a large C-clamp (6 inch size) to hold the pin forward and my thumbs. The fourth one I couldn’t get my C-clamp to hold and finally asked my daughter to hold it forward and got it done in under a minute! I saw a tool on Advance Auto that MAY help in this situation that I’m going to buy for about $9. It’s Lisle Ford Brake Spring Washer Tool x 1 (Part No. LIS41100). Instead of a screwdriver style, it’s more of a wrench style. That tool looks like will slide under the wheel hub and allow pushing the spring washer down enough to compress the spring and rotate the spring washer 90 degrees to lock it in. Overall, I spent over an hour messing with the 4 spring washers. Eric’s drum brake video on the PT Cruiser shows this style of spring washer on regular drum brakes, where you have much more access as they are outside of the wheel hub.
Have you try to tight the bolt/screw at your emergency brake handle (the one in cabin), its works great, just spin the bolt/screw until it make brake on it’s own, than spin it backward a little just to loose the brake, and try your emergency brake.
I was going to suggest servicing the brakes as many have pointed out. I’m also happy to hear that you checked the operation of the cables. Those can be real troublemakers sometimes. As for accessing the fasteners for the drum brakes. Many times the axle flange has holes in it. You can sometimes use these holes to access components underneath. It’s the main reason they put those there. I was also going to suggest “seating the shoes in”, as you did when you stopped the truck using the parking brake. I think perhaps a little lubrication on the brake parts should get you the rest of the way.
Keep us posted.
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