Parking Brake Question

delslo · Post by **delslo** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 2:11 pm

Its my understanding that, if you have the rear of the car off the ground and the parking brake disengaged, the rear wheels should spin freely.

Is this correct?

Mine spin, but drag lightly, which seems to be the brake pad barely touching.
Research showed me there is an adjustment nut somewhere but I am not 100% on how to adjust it. (I know about the one under the console but, do not think its related.)

These are rear disks.

How do I adjust the parking brake at the calipers?

lurch95hatch · Post by **lurch95hatch** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 2:15 pm

You say you tried the adjustment cables at the base of the handle right?

delslo · Post by **delslo** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 2:23 pm

lurch95hatch;296395 wrote:You say you tried the adjustment cables at the base of the handle right?

It does need to be tightened but, its not an issue of the parking brake not engaging.
If anything, its slightly engaged. I plan to tighten the handle tonight, but want to make sure the caliper end of things is correct before setting the handle to "5 to 9" clicks.

lurch95hatch · Post by **lurch95hatch** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 2:26 pm

When I replaced my rear calipers I didn't notice an adjustment nut or anything of that nature. What I would do is take it off the ground and loosen the cable and have someone spin the tire while you re tighten the cables.

Waffles · Post by **Waffles** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 2:37 pm

Disk brakes drag slightly. If you think about it, there is nothing pulling the pad back once you release the brakes, pressure is just relieved from the back side. With drum brakes there is actually a spring to pull them back.

delslo · Post by **delslo** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:11 pm

Waffles;296398 wrote:Disk brakes drag slightly. If you think about it, there is nothing pulling the pad back once you release the brakes, pressure is just relieved from the back side. With drum brakes there is actually a spring to pull them back.

While this is true, the instructions (at least the ones I found) say to pull the lever up one click, and tighten it until you it barely drags, then release the lever and you should have zero drag. Maybe the instructions I read were for drums.

delslo · Post by **delslo** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:13 pm

delslo · Post by **delslo** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 1:17 pm

So I adjusted the parking brake cable. With same results. Cable is tighter but the left rear brake drags quite a bit. The right rear is fine, and has been since I began messing with this. There must be some way to adjust only the left rear caliper.

Waffles · Post by **Waffles** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 1:24 pm

Have you tried checking the caliper itself, it might be seizing up slightly.

95_gsrfodo · Post by **95_gsrfodo** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 1:29 pm

delslo;298192 wrote:So I adjusted the parking brake cable. With same results. Cable is tighter but the left rear brake drags quite a bit. The right rear is fine, and has been since I began messing with this. There must be some way to adjust only the left rear caliper.

nope no ajustment on the calipers..
you can check and see if the slides are starting to seize up? clean and lube all slides
could also be a week spring on the cable return
or a cable holding as well...