MaroonMonsterLS1

I have no parking brake whatsoever and it's driving me nuts.

I have new parking brake shoes. New rotors. I've put in a new hardware kit with adjusters in it, and adjusted them so that the rotor will just barely slip over them. I can yank the handle and stand it straight up and still not have the parking brake engage.
I know the cables are good because I can have a buddy pull the handle and see the lever arms move on the brakes.

Google and the search function here have just led me to threads saying to adjust them.

What am I missing, what have I overlooked? Hoping somebody has had the same problem and found the solution. Thanks!

scj

iTrader: (89)

Sounds like the handle is not fully engaged. There's a little tab that's locks into the little teeth on the handle assembly. If this tab is not engaged with the handle in the down position you may not be pulling the cables with much tension. Id check it out. Handle usually is really easy to pull when it's like this too.

dailydriver

^^^THIS is my problem RIGHT NOW, and is the ONLY THING keeping me from passing the Gestapo like inspection in this f'ing state!

I am running out of lever assemblies from the f body dismantlers on here, since GM stopped making them LONG LONG ago, and NO ONE in the aftermarket offers them for sale anywhere, not even the original/factory supplier company, Dura.

I keep breaking off that fragile little 90* bent 'tab' on the lever handle.

I also cannot find correct REAR cables, as I think part of the reason I am breaking the tab off is the crapola Wagner rear cables I had to buy (again, since GM/Delco have LONG since discontinued the factory ones) which are too long, and 'bunch up' at the backing plate lever, causing too much tension at the front cable/lever interface.

Should I move to another state without ANY inspection at all????!!!!

Or is there an aftermarket CALIPER on the rotor type of parking brake for these cars???

MaroonMonsterLS1

Ok, Its been a little while but i finally had time to rip the console apart. (found a couple quarters !!)

The handle is engaging just fine. Both ratchet mechanisms are working well and the cable moves full swing.

I can see the cable pull on the caliper side but i wonder if there is an issue with the arms??

I couldnt find an exploded view of the parking brake setup, maybe im just bad with google. If somebody has one from online, an old gm manual, etc, would you post it up so I can see if maybe i'm missing parts from the assembly. Im thinking the pivot arm might not be engaging the pins?? at least thats my hope.

Thanks

MaroonMonsterLS1

Bringing back an old thread from the dead.
I'm bringing this back because I hate when I search for a thread, find the same problem i have, then see that it went unanswered. So, if anybody else is having similar issues, here was my fix:

Between the lever arm and the cups for the "feet" of the brake shoe, there is a small dowel pin. My dowel pins were missing since the day i bought the car. I went to my local auto parts store and bought a parking brake hardware kit. I had done this before but this time I special ordered a kit that came with those two little dowel pins. The kit was about $25 bucks plus $7 shipping from the manufacturer (Wagner)

Hope this helps somebody in the future.