E brake does not hold car from rolling: 91 GT

[psmithstang]

Hey,

I have a 91 GT and the E brake although real tight when pulling it up does not keep the car from rolling. Is there a way to adjust it? Do I need a new one? How much to fix? Is it easy to fix for a novice? how much for a shop to fix? My driveway is a slight incline so really would like to get this fixed. Any thoughts?

Many thanks for the help.

P

 

[SMOKEDYA]

Sounds like it just needs adjusted.Pull the drums make sure all the springs are hooked up,then put the drum back on and from the back side turn the dial looking thing.Then reinstall the wheels and see if that fixes it?You might want to turn the dial (adjuster) while the drum is off to see what way you turn it to move the shoes outwards to the drum.DONT turn it to much with the drum off cause then the shoes might not clear the drums when you try to put them back on.peace







john

 

[trbkrb]

The adjuster is behind the oblong rubber plug on the brake backing plate. You can use a brake adjusting tool, basically like a small crowbar of sorts, or even a screwdriver, to turn the star wheel on the adjuster to tighten the shoes against the drum. Then when you pull the ebrake handle, it should push out the brake shoes just a bit more and they should hold. But if your cables are the originals, they could have stretched a bit too much that they will not hold even if adjusted. They are a bit of a pain to replace as you need to take the drum brakes apart somewhat, but it can be done if you do it one side at a time.

 

[90mustangGT]

Well we have a 20 year old car and I bet those are the original e-brake cables.

Like mentioned before, make sure the rear drum hardware and linings are functioning properly, and there are no fluid leaks on the shoes. Make sure they are adjusted. With the wheel on the shoes should just barely touch the drum.

I see this issue with older Fords all the time (and other makes, but the Ford trucks and vans are the worse) where the cable has either seized, stretched, or both. It feels tight because the corrosion makes the lines very tight, but there really isn't much movement going on. The Cables aren't that expensive but they are a bit of a pain to install. Once I do my manual swap, I am probably going to put some new cables in mine just because I've felt the difference in the new cables.

 

[wv109323]

E-brake Cable

The emergency brake cable runs to an arm in the rear drums. When the cable is pulled (set the E brake) the cable pulls the bottom of the arm forward. There is a pivot point on the arm. By pulling the bottom of the arm forward the top of the arm is pushed to the rear of the car. The top part of the arm pushes against the top of the rear brake shoe only and forces the shoe out against the drum thus setting the brake.
When the cable/brake is released then the normal brake springs pull the shoe away from the drum.
The adjuster mention in previous posts adjust both brake shoes out closer to the drum. This allows "slack" to be taken out as the brake shoes wear. For example there is 1/32" clearance between a set of new shoes and the drum. When the foot brake is hit the master cylinder pumps brake fluid to the rear brake cylinders and the cylinder pushes the brake shoes out 1/32" and the rear wheels brake. By just moving the wheel cylinder out 1/32' very little brake fluid is needed thus you have a firm pedal with little movement of the brake pedal.
If the rear shoes have 1/2 worn out then the movement of the rear brake shoes need to be 1/32 plus about 1/8" wear on the shoe. Now to apply the rear brake the brake cylinder would need to move the brake shoe 1/8 + 1/32". This requires more brake fluid thus more movement of the brake pedal to displace the required brake fluid to move the brake cylinder 5/32". This pedal would go near the floor. Also the ebrake handle would need more movement to allow for the wear.
Are your rear brakes working with the pedal? Can you lock up the rear brakes? If not adjusting the brake adjuster would help both the rear brake and the emergency brake.
There is the possibility the brake cables going to the e-brakes are frozen. Thus you would not be moving the brake shoe out against the drum as needed. The e brake handle would be pulling against a frozen cable. Remove a brake drum and determine if the e brake is moving the arm to set the e brake.