03 suburban e-brake failure

[NINFan]

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?

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by NINFan

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.

[NINFan]

^^
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.