Emergency brake, 97 Explorer XLT 4x4 SOHC | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Emergency brake, 97 Explorer XLT 4x4 SOHC

wollimann

Well-Known Member
Joined
July 19, 2011
Messages
184
Reaction score
42
City, State
Europe (Germany)
Year, Model & Trim Level
1997 4.0 sohc xlt
Hi at all,

since 1997 my "best friend" is still with us. Never had a problem with the emergency brake.
At the last technical inspection the Explorer didn't get the vehicle inspection sticker,
cause the e-brake has not enough prake power and the existing power is different
from both sides.

So i went on changing really everything that belongs to that e-brake.
Now everything ist brand new, all cables (front, intermediate, left, right)
, disks, brake shoes, springs (only the levers i did not change, they are
3 years old and in good shape).
The brake shoes are adjusted very accurate on both sides.

Unfortunately the prake power is still different if i push the brakepedal 4 notches.
4 notches -> passenger side is still rotating by hand, driver side wheel doesn't move
5 notches -> both sides are fixed, no turning by hand.
The pedal goes down for 8 notches overall, but you can move the car
with first gear and a little engine power.

I know this brake is not the best at all, but how many notches are normal
for this brake?
There is nothing to adjust at this brake pedal mechanism, right?
What could cause this less brake power?

kind regards

Wolfgang
Ford Explorer 4X4, 4.0 SOHC, Build Date 01/10/96, EZ97, 152 KW, dark lapis metallic KN/M6681,KM: 250ooo,
VIN: 1FMDU34E8VUA67356, Prins Autogas
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Could there be anything on the brake drum surface like oil or or grease to cause the shoe not to grip?
 






No tension adjustment at the pedal. Easiest way to adjust the parking brake shoes is release the pedal and turn the star adjusters on each wheel until tight against the drums. Loosen each adjuster just enough so there is no shoe contact with each drum, usually no more than 3-4 clicks on each wheel. Ford's procedure uses a "special tool" that measures only .5mm or 1/2mm (.002 inch) clearance between the shoes and drum when the pedal is released.
 






Put truck in Reverse, get moving a few MPH, mash down the E brake
They rear E brake assemblies are "self adjusting", doing this will help seat everything and remove any varnish/gunk that is stopping the new pads from grabbing

Your new cables will stretch a bit and it may require an adjustment of the E brake shoes once or twice

Good job to get this far! Those little springs are a PITA
If you press the pedal down with your foot the 8 notches or so it should hold the truck
If it takes a little extra effort that is ok
You should NOT have to force the e brake foot pedal all the way down just to get some grab, if so you need to adjust the shoes out a bit further
 






Thanks for the fast answers!
There nothing on the drum and shoes like oil, grease or something like that.
The adjusting procedure, i do it several times with these star adjusters.
First -> as tied as possible, then 3 teeth back.
The new brake shoes are the right ones, but they have not fully contact
with the drum. You can see some marks on that shoes.
Maybe the shoes must grind semselfes to the drum?

I am at a loss this time. Repaired my 5R55E and everything is fine, but this
fu..ing e-brake killing me!

thanks

Wolfgang
 






If you press the pedal down with your foot the 8 notches or so it should hold the truck

Yes it holds the truck, but you can move it with the engine.
In my opinion this system is not self adjusting. Only the star adjuster
can move the shoes.
Are 8 notches normal or should it be less?

Wolfgang
 






try it

Drum Brake Self Adjusters: Understanding These Ancient Devices

Self adjusters built in
At least that is my understanding on these Ranger and Explorer rear axle that use a cable pull E brake shoe/drum assembly
The little cable bit inside the drum brake assembly is an auto tensioner.....to a point
As long as you have the shoes manually adjusted properly when you re install the rotor/drum...the bendix "Self energizing" style self adjusting mechanism should work in reverse by mashing the E brake pedal down to stop the truck......

I have been doing this on these trucks for many years, the self adjusting braking in reverse procedure always seems to help seat the E brake when its all new
It was actually in one of the owners manual and my friend Brett brought it to my attention a long time ago...I was like self adjusting? How?...sure enough
I have rebuilt "umpteen" rear e brake and foot pedal assemblies on disc brake 8.8,....I have collected some special drum brake tools over the years that help me with those little buggers...
.Like you I would rather rebuild a transmission!
Many nights late in the shop putting trucks all the way back together just to have to mess with one dang spring for 3-4 hours LOL
 












sounds like the brakes need seating into the drums when drum brakes were all over the place some shops had a grinder to grind the shoes to match the drums if you can't find one you will have to adjust them tight and drive until they are seated to the drum
roscoe
 






Thank you for that link, very intresting but my e-brake looks a little bit different.
This is the picture 3 years ago while i am doing the rearend.

34408539kh.jpg


There's no selfadjusting mechanism. So for me it doesn't matter if you go in reverse
an mash the e-brake or you go forward.
Or i am to stupid to understand what you mean.
Now it looks this way.

34408594nl.jpg


34408596cu.jpg


34408597tm.jpg
 






Yes it holds the truck, but you can move it with the engine.
In my opinion this system is not self adjusting. Only the star adjuster
can move the shoes.
Are 8 notches normal or should it be less?

Wolfgang

The parking brake is just that (for parking) it is not an emergency brake. The engine will always be able to overpower the parking brake shoes. I guess the thinking is that with a dual master cylinders emergency brakes are no longer required.
 






Thanks Koda2000,
think that's the point which i didn't realize this way. Only a parking brake!
I use this brake maybe one time in a year, we are living on flat land.
So the cables were stuck an hard to push back and forth.
Now with new parts there is still trouble.
The rear brake cables are from different manufacturers (Wagner/Raybestos),
front and intermediate cables from Ford.
Maybe there's a relationship? Different length?
The rear passenger side cable pull the parking brake lever a little bit to late.
So the power is different from left and right.
I tried to compensate this with the star adjusters, left -> less, right -> more.
But now the right cable does not go back in it's staring position
while the pedal is released.
The springs are new an should have enough power to force the lever back.
In my despair i installed a helper spring like on first generation Explorers.
34411481lp.jpg

That doesn't fix the problem really.
Meanwhile i think i am too accurate, but the technical controller man
is accurate too.
Our Ford workshop was not able/willing to help me, they said
that they must order new original Ford cables from USA, cause these
cables are not available in Germany anymore.
Frustrating, but you can image that causes some hundred bucks.
Aftermarket parts are not bad at all, so i will try to bring that
to an happy end.
Thanks for assistance!

Wolfgang
 






I rarely use my parking brake, as it's pretty flat where I live/drive too. I live in the southern U.S. so rust is not an issue, if it were I'd use the parking brake more often to keep the parts moving freely. You're probably correct that the difference in pull is due to the new and old cables being slightly different in length due to stretch in the old cable or manufacturing tolerance.
 






Ditto, the difference in pull left to right is probably in the cable changes made.

The parking brakes don't adjust themselves, the adjustment star wheel is only held in place by the spring tension it rides against. It's as likely to spin with any brake force, in either direction. That star wheel takes some force to move with a screw driver prying it up or down.

To get best parking brake force, you have to adjust them so the rotor is relatively very hard to put on. Adjust them as tight as you can and still install the rotor. Having any wear groove in the drum surface, will greatly reduce the amount of adjustment you can achieve, besides doing it from the backside(which is very difficult).

I've managed to get good parking brakes the last several times I've done it that way. There will be some slight shoe wear initially, but no harm long term. I'm changing my parking brake shoes again today or tomorrow, while doing LS clutches, axle bearings, and seals. The shoes on it now have about 60k miles, but they're still about 30% good IMO. In that time, I've done brake pads three times(two rebuilt calipers(caused one set to go at six months), another RR caliper(Autozone) 15 months after the first time dragging, and new rotors once. I do brakes a lot due to work.
 






My 1997 F350 the previous owner replaced the foot brake assembly and all of the cables. When pushed fully to the floor there was like 4" of slack still. Obviously he had installed the wrong cable, its a truck so they came in like 4 different lengths.
I fixed it with a heavy duty turnbuckle from the hardware store and some cable clamps, now I can adjust the parking brake tension manually at the intermediate cable.
Something like this
img_8370-kh6wz-e-brake-assy1.jpg

I still had to adjust the shoes out quite far in order to get it to hold the truck on a hill, for the first day or two of driving around the shoes were definitely dragging on the drums, but after a little driving they wore in and now it holds like it should. Just halfway down on the foot pedal and it will hold the truck on a steep incline (5 speed)
 






It seems to me that if the shoe was to provide adequate friction to suppress rotation of the wheel, you would want the entire surface of the shoe to contact the drum, and in this picture it appears that only small portions of the shoe is making contact with the drum. Maybe it is an illusion of the photo?
uxR_r_SSvIypJxq2Tonuhh7txfwJql0YvcCH=w1024-h768-no.png
 






Thank you for that link, very intresting but my e-brake looks a little bit different.
This is the picture 3 years ago while i am doing the rearend.

34408539kh.jpg


There's no selfadjusting mechanism. So for me it doesn't matter if you go in reverse
an mash the e-brake or you go forward.
Or i am to stupid to understand what you mean.
Now it looks this way.

34408594nl.jpg


34408596cu.jpg


34408597tm.jpg

The pictures also shows a lot of anti-seize yes? It's great for the hub face and studs for what it's intended for. But I hope there is none on the brake shoes, that would ruin them and they'd have to be replaced. The pad/shoe linings have to be perfectly clean of any contaminants at all times. They are porous and cannot be cleaned adequately.
 






and in this picture it appears that only small portions of the shoe is making contact with the drum. Maybe it is an illusion of the photo?

That ist not an illusion, there some spots who has contact to the drum
and some areas who has not.
So i took some sand paper to grind that spots a little bit.

The pictures also shows a lot of anti-seize yes?
This is not antizise spray this ist a bit of grinding dust.
Antisize/copper paste is only located on levers.

Look at this, the price for original Ford shoes in Germany, unbelieveable.$344,76
Bremsbacken hinten Ford Explorer 1994-2000

Wolfgang
 






This is not antizise spray this ist a bit of grinding dust.
Antisize/copper paste is only located on levers.
Coincidence the silver color on the shoes is the EXACT same anti seize color that's on the other parts?

Haven't ever seen silver brake dust.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





That ist not an illusion, there some spots who has contact to the drum
and some areas who has not.
So i took some sand paper to grind that spots a little bit.


This is not antizise spray this ist a bit of grinding dust.
Antisize/copper paste is only located on levers.

Look at this, the price for original Ford shoes in Germany, unbelieveable.$344,76
Bremsbacken hinten Ford Explorer 1994-2000

Wolfgang

Very good, no worries then.

The parking brake pads are a lighter colored material, they can look that way with a bit of sanding.

I wouldn't pay $344.76 for parking brake pads though, ever. There's no need for OEM parking brake pads, the difference from aftermarket will not be measurable. I gave about $25 for the brand I just got, Raybestos I think, from Rock Auto.

Part of the tricks to saving money on any cars, is learning which parts it matters to buy from the manufacturer, and which can be had from any parts stores. Keep reading on this forum and others, this is where that precious information is at.
 






Back
Top