parking brake adjustment

What is the best way to adjust the parking brake on a 2001 Chevy Blazer?

It is 2wheel drive and has 4 disc brakes. The parking brake assemby is inside the rear rotors. The parking brake goes just about all the way to the floor and does not hold the vehicle stopped.

Thanks in advance.

The park brake cable must be adjusted also whenever the shoes are adjusted.

Remove the caliper, disconnect the parking brake cable from the park brake lever, turn the adjuster nut, (located next to the upper shoe anchor point), clockwise to tighten, or counter clockwise to loosen the shoes until the rotor drags while rotating the wheel in a forward direction. Connect the park brake cable to the lever, install the caliper. Loosen the equalizer nut, make sure the park brake pedal is fully released, tighten the equalizer nut until the brakes drag, loosen the equalizer nut until there is little or no drag on the rear wheels when rotated in a forward direction.

98 up parking brake cable is adjusted at the assembly under the drivers door outside of frame - small open end wrench on the rear cable so that does not turn then the nut in the metal on the front cable rotates to change length - pull the rear cable once in awhile to self adjust the distro to the rears.

... pull the rear cable once in awhile to self adjust the distro to the rears.

The parking brake is not self adjusting. The adjustment for the shoes and the cable must be done manually.

Have to pull that rear section a few times when you manually adjust the cable length to force it to distribute the tension equally between the 2 rear sides - at least thats what I have found- and yes they do not self adjust - my teminology use was incorrect.

Thanks for the replies. Do you think the parking brake shoes should be replaced just because they are 5 yrs old? BTW, the parking brake has hardly ever been use during those 5 yrs. Do you think that could be part of the problem? or wouldn't that even matter?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

The park brake should be used daily, or not at all. Using the park brake only on rare ocassion will cause the cables to rust. Check the shoes, if the lining is less than 1/8" thick, replace them. If not, clean and adjust them and they should be fine.

I never use mine. Nor will I ever "try" to use it.

With a proper parking spot and not parking on a hill, you will never need it on an automatic.

I don't use the parking brake much either. The problem is here in NJ my vehicle is coming up for state inspection and they usually test it. Pretty sure it is going to fail the way it is. Thanks for the replies.

I use mine all the time i dont like the jerk u get sometimes u get when u toss it in park and the car is on a slight hill and rolls back or forward a bit. Im sure the tranny is fine to do it to but i dont like it an i put it doen on every car i drive




Side note this is for a 98+ style blazer, how do you adjust the 95-98 style? I have drums in the rear. on a 4 door 4x4 blazer

I'm with Eslhockey92g. I use mine all the time. I've trained my wife and both daughters to do the same. On several later models (many makes) with rear drums (like the weenie 7¼" drums) the only rear shoe adjustment is done via the park brake actuation and release - not the lever attached to the secondary brake shoe like the older Morraine drums. You can back up all day long and not hook the brake adjuster toothed wheels. Rear discs can be a little different, and I've had to adjust the park brake shoes manually on mine more than once, as well as the cables.

I also don't like replacing transmission cases if the car gets a 2 MPH bump in a parking lot and bounces off he parking pawl and pivot bar. Ditto parking on inclines.

old_master is correct - Use it or lose it. If you don't use it for a long time, it may hang when engaged.

For those who use the parking brake most of the time;

How often have you had to adjust the parking brake?

and what procedure did you use?

I'm pretty sure it is auto adjusting.

For those who use the parking brake most of the time;

How often have you had to adjust the parking brake?

and what procedure did you use?

When the parking brake pedal travels more than half way down, it's time to service or adjust the parking brake. The procedure is in post #2, straight from the GM shop manual.

mine goes all the way down and if im on a step enough hill it will slowly roll back. thats why ive been following this as soon as it gets a little warmer i will pop off the back wheels

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to post. I followed everyones advice. I removed the rear hub/rotors. Cleaned off the parking brake shoes. Used a bit of emery cloth to clean away the rust on the inside of the hub/rotors. Then turned the adjuster nut enough to expand the shoes so that the hub would slip back on without any binding. The adjuster nut probably moved less than 1/8 of an inch on both wheels. Did the drivers side first, then the passenger side and then double checked the drivers side again. Everything checked out okay and the parking brake now works fine.

Note: since I had first tried adjusting the cable by turning the adjustment nut under the driverrs door, I did put that adjustment nut back to its original position before doing any of the work on the brakes. In the end, I never had to touch the cable adjuster a second time.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to post. I followed everyones advice. I removed the rear hub/rotors. Cleaned off the parking brake shoes. Used a bit of emery cloth to clean away the rust on the inside of the hub/rotors. Then turned the adjuster nut enough to expand the shoes so that the hub would slip back on without any binding. The adjuster nut probably moved less than 1/8 of an inch on both wheels. Did the drivers side first, then the passenger side and then double checked the drivers side again. Everything checked out okay and the parking brake now works fine.

Note: since I had first tried adjusting the cable by turning the adjustment nut under the driverrs door, I did put that adjustment nut back to its original position before doing any of the work on the brakes. In the end, I never had to touch the cable adjuster a second time.

Rear brakes should automatically adjust when reversing.

If it is like mine, these adjusters are seized and don't really work well.

Rear brakes should automatically adjust when reversing.

If it is like mine, these adjusters are seized and don't really work well.


The reason they don’t work well is not because they’re seized, it’s because they are not self adjusting.

The reason they don’t work well is not because they’re seized, it’s because they are not self adjusting.

Emergency brakes on a drum brake system are self adjusting.

Emergency brakes on a drum brake system are self adjusting.

Nope.

All GM S/T series vehicles 1982 and up, use a manually adjusted cable length adjuster for the parking brake. On vehicles equipped with rear disc brakes, in addition to the cable length adjustment, there is a manual shoe adjustment inside the drum. Both must be checked and adjusted if/as necessary when servicing the parking brake. Check the owner’s manual, or a shop manual.

All GM S/T series vehicles 1982 and up, use a manually adjusted cable length adjuster for the parking brake. On vehicles equipped with rear disc brakes, in addition to the cable length adjustment, there is a manual shoe adjustment inside the drum. Both must be checked and adjusted if/as necessary when servicing the parking brake. Check the owner’s manual, or a shop manual.

Old Master is right, this is the only way to properly adjust the emerg. brake. This of course is assuming the cables themselves are not frozen(rusted). Thats why its important to use it every once in awhile to make sure it works. It also takes the pressure off the parking prawl in the transmission too.

Its also an unneeded expense when you go to safety your truck to register it, or when you go to sell it.