thebestofindica

My park brake won't hold at all so I tried to tackle this project. I lifted rear and set on jack stands, left tranny in neutral with park brake off. I loosened slack adjuster, removed the two rear tires and then removed the rubber plug. I have a brake spoon, but a short, standard screwdriver worked better. I was turning the star wheel the direction with less resistance and I think this may have been wrong as the park brake seems to be the same or worse. On the drivers side, the star wheel is above the axle and I spun it down (away from the axle) and the passenger side is the opposite, the star wheel is on the bottom and I spun it up (towards the axle). I spun it a few time and then would set the park brake with my hand and check friction on the rotor and not a darn thing was happening. Should I be spinning the star wheel the direction with more resistance? I read this info here: http://mopar.mopar1973man.com/tips/c...ke/e-brake.htm but his setup is exactly opposite of mine. I think I have confused myself. I appreciate the help.

tryNto

Haven't done mine, but I think your right that you turned them the wrong way.
its just a drum brake, turning the adjuster spreads them apart toward the drum, so more tension on the spring.
spinning the star wheel the direction with more resistance is what you want I think.
Please, some1 correct if this is wrong.

thebestofindica

I attacked it again today and got 'er done this time. The drivers side needs to rotate up to tighten the shoe and the passenger side needs to turn down. Before doing this I would put park brake to the floor and it wouldn't hold itself. Now it goes about half way to the floor and will hold the truck anywhere. I am not even a shadetree mechanic and it was easy. The hardest part was putting the stupid plugs back in the hole.

Totallyrad

Roger that on the plugs. I just did my rears and it was a pain getting the driver's side parking brake adjuster back where it needed to be. There's some pictures in my DIY brake article in the wiki.