eBrake Adjustment

[l008com]

I found out at the boat ramp the other day that my e brake is no longer holding. So I googled how to adjust it and in one thread it talked about an adjuster under the lever, but in other posts it talked about having to remove the wheels and calipers and rotors and adjust them from there (obviously much more of a pain). In one post someone mentioned mooseman's post about the topic, but that post itself was 8 years old and he didn't LINK to the actual post he was talking about

So whats the best way to adjust. I did recently replace my rear rotors so I suspect its just a slight difference in drum thickness inside the rotor. Meaning just a little adjustment. But because I launch my boat, I would like my e brake to hold my truck very firmly. I don't want to end up on the news as my truck floats down the river

 

[BrianF]

Last I recall you had to pull the rotor and adjust the spanner that way. Thats what I did on my 2006. Its annoying and I never did get it right.

 

[Mooseman]

Like @BrianF said. You have to pull the rotor, turn the adjustment wheel a bit, put the rotor back on and check for drag. Repeat until you get just a very slight drag. Yeah I know. A PITA.

 

[l008com]

Ok that was a huge pain in the ass, mainly because I had to fully disassemble everything to adjust, then you can't test it without fully reassembling! They coudln't have made the adjuster on the bottom inside so you could get it without taking stuff apart?

Anyway I adjusted it and how it easily grabs at just half the lever pull.

But with it released, there is a little bit of drag. Not much, but enough to notice. Should I be taking it apart and dialing them back in a bit? Or is a little bit of drag fine, and those pads will just wear out to be a perfect fit with some driving?

Regarding spinning them by hand to check for rubbing, thats just not realistic here. This is an old truck, theres so much rubbing already from the brake shields and who knows what else, theres no way to tell by hand spinning the rotor when it was starting to rub a little. I imagine on a brand new vehicle its a lot easier to adjust them that way.

 

[l008com]

Ok after just a couple of miles, everything is feeling good, now I can get my inspection sticker

I do wish it was a LITTLE looser only because you can't really pull the lever up very high. Not that that really matters, its just what I'm used to I guess. But I definitely don't care enough to correct the problem

Also thank god I decided to buy myself a HF electric impact wrench. Its been a few years but it makes taking the wheels off SO much easier, and I've had to do that so many times between the brakes, this e brake thing, rotating tires, etc etc.

 

[Sqrly]

Like @BrianF said. You have to pull the rotor, turn the adjustment wheel a bit, put the rotor back on and check for drag. Repeat until you get just a very slight drag. Yeah I know. A PITA.

I feel PITA is the wrong acronym, perhaps SNAFU?

I just replaced the rear pads on my 04. I found the e-brake setup quite puzzling. I mean it's simple but, why? /dogheadtilt

 

[l008com]

I feel like, if the adjustment was just in an easier to access location, it wouldn't be bad at all.