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Park brake doesn't work

Jeremykrell308

New Member
Joined
March 18, 2025
Messages
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City, State
Felton PA
Year, Model & Trim Level
1995 Explorer xl
on my 95 xl I replaced all the cables, and all the pads and hardware in the rear, when i press down the pedal nothing happens. it slightly pulls the cables, and the pads were adjusted all the way out and i messed with them a little too. Could the problem be the actual pedal itself?
 



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when i press down the pedal nothing happens.
How many notches you can count on the way down,
or can you push the pedal to the ground?
In most times the main cable underneath the driver side
will lenghten too much. So there is not enough pressure to hold the car.
Another important thing is that new brake shoes did not fit
perfectly inside a new or old drum.
Regardless if the shoes are adjusted well, they have only contact of 50%
to the drum. After grinding the shoes by hand they have full contact.
(Self adhesive sand paper inside the drum, shoes back/forth by hand until all spots are gone)
Brake drum and shoes must be clean, no grease.
I do not think its a pedal issue, maybe a lever issue, sometimes the levers are worn out
and cannot press the shoes apart.
 






How many notches you can count on the way down,
or can you push the pedal to the ground?
In most times the main cable underneath the driver side
will lenghten too much. So there is not enough pressure to hold the car.
Another important thing is that new brake shoes did not fit
perfectly inside a new or old drum.
Regardless if the shoes are adjusted well, they have only contact of 50%
to the drum. After grinding the shoes by hand they have full contact.
(Self adhesive sand paper inside the drum, shoes back/forth by hand until all spots are gone)
Brake drum and shoes must be clean, no grease.
I do not think its a pedal issue, maybe a lever issue, sometimes the levers are worn out
and cannot press the shoes apart.
Yeah the pedal goes to the floor, I'll get those new levers then and try that. Thanks
 






Hope you will be able to get these levers (left and right).
But i would also look for the intermediate brake cable (4 door Ford F5TZ 2A793-B, Dorman C133080).


I always have trouble with the parking brake, every two years our Technical Supervisory Association test the parking brake
on a roller type dynamometer and they are bleating about the performance. Not enough power, no equality for both sides.
So i am very anxious inspecting everything and get a correct alignment to achive the badge for the next two years.

Therefor i grind the new shoes down to get the maximum contact.
I use new rotors, new brake shoes and a pack of new springs.
Preventing to get any kind of grease on the new shoes.
grinding shoes.jpg

grinding shoes ready.jpg


Good luck for you!
 






I used this not-meant-for-explorer part to replace the rear actuator levers: Dorman 924-741 - Amazon.com
I used this universal parking brake cable set to replace the original setup: Amazon.com

It works better than I ever got the original design to work (but still holds only a moderate hill). I had to make a bracket to mount the universal cable, but I can now individually adjust left/right tension. I lost the self adjusting/ balancing function but that never worked anyway. IMO, I should have cut and extended the actuator lever to get more power but I'm probably not going to pull the axles again just to do that. Bracket replaces original bracket.

expbracket.png
 






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