Emergency Brake Tightening Woes

[Aaronbrook37]

So I have about 40% of the emergency brake that I should. One wheel mostly locks up and the other doesn't do a thing. I hate relying on my auto transmission for my parking brake, so it's time to tighten up the cable. I've tried on several occasions to do this to no avail until I realized today that the cable was just spinning on me when tightening the adjusting nut.



It would seem that the previous owner has rounded the edges of this little gold-coloured box circled in red, which prevents making actual adjustments to the cable. I've tried wedging things in there to keep it from turning, but it doesn't work. Any ideas on what I could do so the cable can be tightened properly? Maybe I could clamp it down with something?

[shadetree]

I have never had to touch that adj bolt /nut ! Your problem is most likely in the rear drum that is not locking up . The pin in the top bracket is stuck or rusted solid.
Remember when you install drum back on to pull the brake adjuster out until your brakes drag on the drum a little when putting on , but make sure the free when bearing adjustment is complete.
Just a guess , good luck .

[MasterTec]

These are bad for two things: The Cable breaking where it goes from the rear axle to the backing plate.. and for the lever assembly at the backing plate freezing up.

Fixing the former isn't too bad - you simply have to replace the parking brake cable assembly. Fixing the latter requires you to disassemble the rear brakes, disconnect the cable from the lever assembly, feeding the lever assembly out through the rubber grommet in the backing plate hole and freeing it up with liberal use of a vice, a hammer, a screwdriver and plenty of lubricant. You want it to be stupid loose.

There should be no need to adjust it at the handle unless you replace the cable.

[Bathtub Tom]

I had a problem with reduced efficiency on the RH side using the handbrake. My problem was the cable from the equaliser to the wheel on that side.

It had stretched so much the equaliser couldn't compensate.

The equaliser is a piece of rubber(?) on the back axle at the stirrup where the brake cables go to each wheel.

The solution was to either replace all the cables or find some way of effectively shortening the cable on that side.

I resolved it by flogging the car!

[WmWatt]

Probably your clevis (pivot) pin behind the brake drum as suggested. I never used to use the hand brake, putting the car in gear instead when parked. Over the years the pin rusted up. Had to take it off the car and put it in the vice and work on it for days, penetrating oil followed by tapping vigourously with hammer. When freed the pin was replaced by a bolt through which I drilled a hole for the cotter pin. I now use the handbrake when parking which keeps the pin from rutsing in place, and I spray the underbody each fall with used motor oil to retard body rust and that protects the pin as well. Good luck.

[Aaronbrook37]

I have never had to touch that adj bolt /nut ! Your problem is most likely in the rear drum that is not locking up . The pin in the top bracket is stuck or rusted solid.
Remember when you install drum back on to pull the brake adjuster out until your brakes drag on the drum a little when putting on , but make sure the free when bearing adjustment is complete.
Just a guess , good luck .

Yeah... I'll take a look when I do the brake shoes and drum hardware and see what's going on.

These are bad for two things: The Cable breaking where it goes from the rear axle to the backing plate.. and for the lever assembly at the backing plate freezing up.

Fixing the former isn't too bad - you simply have to replace the parking brake cable assembly. Fixing the latter requires you to disassemble the rear brakes, disconnect the cable from the lever assembly, feeding the lever assembly out through the rubber grommet in the backing plate hole and freeing it up with liberal use of a vice, a hammer, a screwdriver and plenty of lubricant. You want it to be stupid loose.

There should be no need to adjust it at the handle unless you replace the cable.

Yep the lever assembly is loose and the equalizer tensioner thing doesn't seem to be doing its job. Thanks for the repair info.

I had a problem with reduced efficiency on the RH side using the handbrake. My problem was the cable from the equaliser to the wheel on that side.

It had stretched so much the equaliser couldn't compensate.

The equaliser is a piece of rubber(?) on the back axle at the stirrup where the brake cables go to each wheel.

The solution was to either replace all the cables or find some way of effectively shortening the cable on that side.

I resolved it by flogging the car!

Flogging the car? That sounds productive haha. I take out my aggression with a torque wrench typically.

Probably your clevis (pivot) pin behind the brake drum as suggested. I never used to use the hand brake, putting the car in gear instead when parked. Over the years the pin rusted up. Had to take it off the car and put it in the vice and work on it for days, penetrating oil followed by tapping vigourously with hammer. When freed the pin was replaced by a bolt through which I drilled a hole for the cotter pin. I now use the handbrake when parking which keeps the pin from rutsing in place, and I spray the underbody each fall with used motor oil to retard body rust and that protects the pin as well. Good luck.

Yep, it's definitely that pin. Good tip on the motor oil underbody... but no rust issues or road salt in Victoria!

[Old Geezer]

As WmWatt described I had the same problem on both rear adjusters. It took a lot of PBBlaster and pounding back and forth until they loosened up an worked properly. Once that was done and everything reinstalled all the hand brake cable problems vanished.

[Bert]

As WmWatt described I had the same problem on both rear adjusters. It took a lot of PBBlaster and pounding back and forth until they loosened up an worked properly. Once that was done and everything reinstalled all the hand brake cable problems vanished.

Me three. The pivot on the adjuster seizes rock-solid well in between brake lining changes (In salt-soaked Ontario). I stick the thing in a big vise and pound it back and forth until it frees up, plus wire wheel the surfaces, and then sock the grease to it. An annual event for me. E brake works like a charm when this thing pivots freely.

[nitrofarm]

Once you get the E Brake adjuster apart on the bench (There is actually TWO places it will freeze up) wire brush the rust off. Dip the pin and adjuster in Muratic Acid following the directions on the can(available at local hardware stores).Rinse with water,paint & Anti Seize the pivot points before assembly & periodically from now on. If you dont dip it the rust comes back pretty quick. Be glad your cable didnt snap. You can also coat the parts in rustoleum "Heavy Rust" paint,it has the acid already in the paint.

[Aaronbrook37]

Here's a short video that shows me buggering about with the slack I have in the cable right now on the passenger's side.

[Bathtub Tom]

Flogging the car? That sounds productive haha. I take out my aggression with a torque wrench typically.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78b67l_yxUc

[Aaronbrook37]

Having a friend pop by today to help me with some things, so we'll take a look. Might just need to replace the cable, which will be a huge pain... but worthwhile if it keeps the car safer, right?

[nitrofarm]

I've never got an Aspire/Festy that had a working E Brake.But once I rebuilt the rears the E Brake works fine. This was especially true with my two ATX Aspires.

[zoom zoom]

Did you disassemble and reset one adjuster inside the drum and not the other? I've had similar issues because of that!

Most of the time its the levers getting seized though like everybody is saying. I still need to fix the new.festy but it rolls good and still picks up speed downhill!

[Aaronbrook37]

Did you disassemble and reset one adjuster inside the drum and not the other? I've had similar issues because of that!

Most of the time its the levers getting seized though like everybody is saying. I still need to fix the new.festy but it rolls good and still picks up speed downhill!

Haven't popped the drums off yet... but I will be sure to do them when we rip apart the brake shoes and drum hardware!