Parking Brake Problem

Cape Codder

Cape Codder

Well-known member
Having problem with adjusting Right side parking Brake. As can be seen in the attachments the RIGHT side shows(picture on left) the Arm/Lever is BEHIND the Main Arm/Lever. The RIGHT side DOES NOT work with adjustment at the Clevis! How can this be Rectified?
 

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  • BACKER PLATE - RIGHT SIDE.jpg
    BACKER PLATE - RIGHT SIDE.jpg
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  • BACKER PLATE - LEFT SIDE.jpg
    BACKER PLATE - LEFT SIDE.jpg
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Unless Im confused, which is certainly possible, the left side view is as if the parking brakes are not applied. The right side view is as if the parking brake is fully applied. Where is the lever in the car? full forward or full toward the seat?

Have you had the drum and hub off both sides, and thus, do you know that the parking brake carriers, the bands and linings are there as they should be?

Are the rods hooked up to the parking brake X shaft?

The levers are maked LH and RH. One is reversed????

Report back for further help.
 
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Here are two more pictures Outer and Inner of the RIGHT side .
Again this is the side that DOES NOT WORK!

The left side will lock up with FOUR CLICKS on the Brake Handle.
 
Here is the picture of the INNER RIGHT REAR BACKER PLATE!
 

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  • INSIDE RIGHT BACKER PLATE.jpg
    INSIDE RIGHT BACKER PLATE.jpg
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The first thing I see is that the springs on the parking brake band are possibly on the wrong side of the mount. This may prevent them from disengaging correctly. Attached is my setup on the driver's side.

As for them engaging I'm not particularly sure except for maybe the rod length
 

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  • PXL_20240629_161651862~2.jpg
    PXL_20240629_161651862~2.jpg
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Also, the parking brake should hold the car between click two and three, such that the third click engages the parking brake handle. Four clicks is too many.

The parking brake levers, while sold as LH and RH, will fit onto either side. The springs for the levers are not universal, however.
 
Cape, the first two pictures posted, are the pictures taken at the same time, with the rods hooked up on both sides and the lever in the passenger compartment in the same position? Or, are they taken at different times with the rods and the passenger compartment lever in different positions.

The two photos are incongruent. The left brake appears to not be applied and the right appears to be applied. The internals from behind the drum also appear to be fully applied as the brake band is proud of the stop bracket and is expanded. By appearance it would imply that the right brake works and the left would not????
 
THANKS TO ALL FOR YOUR RESPONSES!

mass A man - They are adjusted as far as possible!


Mike1291 - Someone else had told me that about the springs! I have ordered new ones because mine are bent wrong. Other than the springs my setup matches yours ! I personally don't think they are the problem!

As to the levers I must respectfully disagree. Each are is twisted at the top to make the angle to the cross shaft!

Rob Doe To be honest I have taken several pictures concerning this problem so I'm quit confused because I didn't make notes to the questions you have. I will be doing them over tomorrow!
 
Good job, Cape. thanks for reporting back. You might be able to feel the marks for left and right with your finger tips, with patience. As I remember, I think they are hidden from view when installed.
 
CC: I caution you to not use the parking brake as an emergency brake, but only use it to secure the car when parked. Using it as a service brake can cause troublesome damage.
 
Do not .................DO NOT SHORTEN THE ROD!!!!!!!!!

Rods were (and are) made to spec. Adjustments should fall in line with the prescribed overall length of the rod and the corresponding thread length at the end of the rod. Since the left side works properly, the first thing to do would be to measure the length of both rods. If the rod on the right is a substantially different length than that on the left, that's the simple answer. The next thing I would check is to make sure the lever on the right side of the e-brake cross shaft is not, somehow, totally bent out of shape (direction). Again, compare to the lever on the left side of the cross shaft. Keep following this route until you find out what's different from one side to the other. Good luck.
 
Cape Codder said:
As to the levers I must respectfully disagree. Each are is twisted at the top to make the angle to the cross shaft!
Click to expand...

Of course there is a reason why they have LH and RH levers. You have enlightened me on the difference. They will fit onto the shaft on either side, though. Should you mix and match? No. But can you mix and match? Yes, you can fit it.

The ones on my car appear to be nearly identical for LH and RH. Mine had no markings so I didn't pay attention to what went where. And I couldn't immediately identify the difference between the two when looking at catalogs.
 
CC , have you checked the cross shaft and their arms on the cross shaft ? Are the arms tight on the shaft, are both sides angled the same way ? Are the cross shaft bushings in good shape ?Are the rods from the cross shaft back to the brakes the same length ? Has the problem drum been turned increasing the diameter making too much of a difference were the band contacts the drum ? Lastly is this a new problem after you working on the brakes ( switching parts from side to side accidentally ) or a just found issue ?
 
One other thought .................... The e-brake lever on the rear side of the backing plate is indexed with a key. Is it at all possible that the key was left out at some point in time .................. OR ............... is it possible that the shaft has frozen inside the carrier tube such that the key has sheared, allowing the backing plate lever to rotate out of range of reasonable adjustment? These would be unusual scenarios, but nothing is out of the realm of possibility (especially a missing key).
 
WELL, I just finished answering all suggestion questions from post #11 to #18. Then found out I wasn't SIGNED IN SO THE SITE WOULDN'T POST ALL THAT WROTE ! ! !

I however will say my son took the arm off and found NO K E Y ! ! !

Installed NEW KEY but NO different as to relation to Main Brake Arm !
 
Once again, you could have 2 Left Hand levers. If you mount the left lever on the right side, in order to do so with the locking bolt toward the rear of the car, the indexing of the key & keyway will change the orientation of the clevis pin hole at the top of the lever. Over the years, someone could easily have taken a torch to the yoke at the top of the lever to twist it so a brake rod end would fit easily into the yoke.
 
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