03 suburban e-brake failure

This car failed inspection last month because the e-brake didn't work. I replaced the shoes, but the cable was at the end of its adjustment. Turns out, after a little web searching, this is a common problem. I never did find an explanation, but it seems that it's fairly common for the e-brake adjustment to just run out on these trucks. I ended up tying a couple of knots in the cable to shorten it up, and it's working now. But it has me stumped - the cable couldn't possibly stretch so much that the e-brake doesn't work anymore. the shoes are adjusted to just barely rub against the drums on the rotors. Any idea what causes this condition?

This car failed inspection last month because the e-brake didn't work. I replaced the shoes, but the cable was at the end of its adjustment. Turns out, after a little web searching, this is a common problem. I never did find an explanation, but it seems that it's fairly common for the e-brake adjustment to just run out on these trucks. I ended up tying a couple of knots in the cable to shorten it up, and it's working now. But it has me stumped - the cable couldn't possibly stretch so much that the e-brake doesn't work anymore. the shoes are adjusted to just barely rub against the drums on the rotors. Any idea what causes this condition?

I would check the E brake shoe lining.
May be worn out or come off.

If needed they make E brake cable tightener.

^^
thanks, but as i said above, i replaced the e-brake shoes. i know about the tightener. i'm trying to figure out why this condition exists. i can't believe the cable could stretch that much, especially since we hardly ever used the e-brake.