May 10, 2016, 03:03 PM
Last edit by: IB Advertising
See related guides and technical advice from our community experts:
- Camaro and Firebird How to Repair and Replace Parking Brake<br>Step by step instructions for do-it-yourself repairs.
rear parking brake cable replacement?
Thread Starter
12 Second Club
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,273
Likes: 0
From: Bucks County, Pa.
rear parking brake cable replacement? Has anyone on here done a parking brake cable replacement WITHOUT using that >$100.00 new, Kent-Moore tool (J37043), and without destroying the little collapsible cage/spring which hold these into the two brackets it passes through in order to hold it in place???
If so, WHAT did you use (i.e.; a 14mm or 15mm spanner with the closed, round end slotted open to accept the steel cable portion, or something else to mimic this tool's function)????
I can put a whole set of GOOD front brakes on this thing for what most online are asking for that stupid tool, which I will ONLY use once!
Thanks in advance,
Dave H.
If so, WHAT did you use (i.e.; a 14mm or 15mm spanner with the closed, round end slotted open to accept the steel cable portion, or something else to mimic this tool's function)????
I can put a whole set of GOOD front brakes on this thing for what most online are asking for that stupid tool, which I will ONLY use once!
Thanks in advance,
Dave H.
Thread Starter
12 Second Club
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,273
Likes: 0
From: Bucks County, Pa.
No, but I just used the open end of a 9/16" spanner and a rubber mallet to tap the spring fasteners into the brackets.
I think the Wagner cable I bought is the wrong length, even though it is the correct one they list for our cars, since the handle will not hold the car even when pulled up to max (vertical).
There is soooo much slop (side to side AND up and down) in the little levers coming out of the backing plate that it may be time for a FULL rebuild with that expensive (~$112.00 + shipping on amazon) AC Delco parking brake kit, as I think just new shoes and an adjustment are NOT going to cut it.
At least I will then get new rubber seals for those levers where they go into the backing plates (this is the ONLY way to get them, as far as I've seen, there is NO Dorman replacement for them, and GM does not have them, except maybe in THEIR full kit which is 3x the price of the Delco one!!
).I REALLY wish we had good, reliable, plain old, caliper actuated parking brakes instead of this expensive garbage!
No No No No. The loose handle and slop at the brakes isn't related to the cable. It's just your parking brakes out of adjustment.
The problem will simply be solved by adjusting the brakes... but doing the adjustment isn't so simple. Do you have the procedure? You'll need to adjust the mechanisms on each side of the car with the brakes and rotors off.
For the lever boots, you can send a PM to 30birdy99. He found an inexpensive source for them and is working to get that posted for us.
The problem will simply be solved by adjusting the brakes... but doing the adjustment isn't so simple. Do you have the procedure? You'll need to adjust the mechanisms on each side of the car with the brakes and rotors off.
For the lever boots, you can send a PM to 30birdy99. He found an inexpensive source for them and is working to get that posted for us.
Trending Topics
Thread Starter
12 Second Club
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,273
Likes: 0
From: Bucks County, Pa.
No No No No. The loose handle and slop at the brakes isn't related to the cable. It's just your parking brakes out of adjustment.
The problem will simply be solved by adjusting the brakes... but doing the adjustment isn't so simple. Do you have the procedure? You'll need to adjust the mechanisms on each side of the car with the brakes and rotors off.
For the lever boots, you can send a PM to 30birdy99. He found an inexpensive source for them and is working to get that posted for us.
The problem will simply be solved by adjusting the brakes... but doing the adjustment isn't so simple. Do you have the procedure? You'll need to adjust the mechanisms on each side of the car with the brakes and rotors off.
For the lever boots, you can send a PM to 30birdy99. He found an inexpensive source for them and is working to get that posted for us.
But at least it will (hopefully) last another 15-20 years for me, and the privatized inspection stations here in Pennsyltuckey are TOTAL ***** as far as checking this item (MUST hold the car on a steep hill, and almost lock up the rear wheels when the handle is yanked fast).
What would it take to convert to a caliper parking brake system, and has anyone ever done this, to your knowledge??
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Gas Monkey Built a 6-Wheel Ferrari Testarossa With a Corvette LT4 Engine
Verdad Gallardo
7 Most Reliable High-Performance Engines GM Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
Amazing '71 Camaro Restomod Is Modern Muscle Car Under the Skin
Verdad Gallardo
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo IMO - It's not worth much, but it can keep you warm if you burn it in the fireplace this winter. 
This is one of the areas where Helms falls down. I recall that they have an incorrect/incomplete procedure for this adjustment and also recall that others have had problems following its instructions. If you are going to keep the car for a while, I highly recommend getting the 3 volume GM Factory Service Manuals. They are superb, accurate, and complete.
You can also check out the links in this thread for more info on the procedure: https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...djustment.html
In this case, what you have on the car (except for the rubber boot at the lever and a little minor rust) is probably just as good as it was when it was new. The mechanism has no wearing parts. Even the brake pad doesn't wear - because the car doesn't move when the parking brake is engaged. It's just that rubber boot that goes south.
With some brake cleaner and brake lube, you can clean and rebuild the mechanism to be good-as-new.
I haven't heard of anyone doing this. If you rebuild what you have and properly adjust it, I think you will be really happy with it. If you aren't the original owner, you may have never felt it operating correctly. (Many people forget or don't know to adjust the mechanism when the rear rotors are replaced and that often throws things off.)
This is one of the areas where Helms falls down. I recall that they have an incorrect/incomplete procedure for this adjustment and also recall that others have had problems following its instructions. If you are going to keep the car for a while, I highly recommend getting the 3 volume GM Factory Service Manuals. They are superb, accurate, and complete.You can also check out the links in this thread for more info on the procedure: https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...djustment.html
With some brake cleaner and brake lube, you can clean and rebuild the mechanism to be good-as-new.
I haven't heard of anyone doing this. If you rebuild what you have and properly adjust it, I think you will be really happy with it. If you aren't the original owner, you may have never felt it operating correctly. (Many people forget or don't know to adjust the mechanism when the rear rotors are replaced and that often throws things off.)
Thread Starter
12 Second Club
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,273
Likes: 0
From: Bucks County, Pa.
^^^THANKS! 
I will try to rebuild and adjust everything properly.
Once this is done, will ALL of the slop/play be gone from the actuator lever which actually presses the shoes outward against the rotor's 'drum' (EVEN the vertical slop/movement)??
Yes, I am the original owner, but it has been soooo long since I can recall the interior handle holding the car at 'half mast', and not having to be pulled up to the vertical stops in order to keep it from rolling on a 1* incline.
BTW; when I say Helms manuals, I MEAN the 3 volume, green cover, factory service manuals, NOT the pure garbage; Haynes, or Chilton toilet paper deals (Helms is the name of the company which prints these for GM
).
I will try to rebuild and adjust everything properly.
Once this is done, will ALL of the slop/play be gone from the actuator lever which actually presses the shoes outward against the rotor's 'drum' (EVEN the vertical slop/movement)??
Yes, I am the original owner, but it has been soooo long since I can recall the interior handle holding the car at 'half mast', and not having to be pulled up to the vertical stops in order to keep it from rolling on a 1* incline.
BTW; when I say Helms manuals, I MEAN the 3 volume, green cover, factory service manuals, NOT the pure garbage; Haynes, or Chilton toilet paper deals (Helms is the name of the company which prints these for GM
). 
BTW - I feel your pain - I got in a little mishap during the last snow storm of the season and had to have my rear end swapped out. The body/mechanical shop that put the new one in couldn't get the brakes right to save their lives (they couldn't even bleed them properly) and the parking brake won't hold the car on a hill. (It was perfect before the accident an on the old rear end.) So, as soon as I can devote some quality time to the car, I'll be rebuilding the rear brakes again.
You have the real deal and should be able to find the parking brake adjustment procedure in there, which specifies the 2-3mm slop at the lever.Two other hints:
- Depending on the design of your axles, you may have to get an "L" shaped screw driver to get to the screw that holds down the brake pad to the back plate. (Some folks have a hole drilled in the axle hub to facilitate this with a normal screw driver, but I didn't.)
- The mechanism parts are identical on both sides of the car, so (if I recall correctly) turning the star wheel "up" on one side has the same effect of turning it "down" on the other side of the car.