Mikesler
New Member
- Joined
- December 4, 2010
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Charleston WV
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2003 sport
Learned this thru trial and error. Parking brake does have an adjustment. Remove rubber plug, see wheel with teeth, move the adjustment wheel so the teeth go upward to tight the brake. There is no release to worry about as in the older model brake shoes, the wheel will turn the opposite way easily, if you get it too tight. Adjust with brake off and preferably with the wheel off the ground so you can feel the tightness as you turn the wheel.
To replace the parking brake shoes, need to back off all the tension on the shoes, by turning the adjustment wheel so the teeth on wheel move downward. Need to remove the caliper housing and then the rotor will slide right off after you remove the two retainer clips on the lug bolts. May need to hammer on the rotor if it hasnt been off in a while, to loosen for easier removal.
This exposes the parking brake shoes. Two springs hold the top shoes together. One spring is easily seen in the front, but if you do not have a manual the spring behind the shoes at the top is a surprise. The bottom of the shoes is held together by a smaller spring and the adjustment arm fits in between the shoes, just as on older drum type brakes. Two retaining pins must be removed. These are held by tension via spring clip. It takes some manuvering to get them off, and then even more to get them back on.
To replace the new shoes, i chose to put the spring and adjustment bar together on the bottom, and slip the top of the two shoes up around axle, while keeping tension on the bottom. The springs are tricky to get stretching between the two shoes and a needlenose visegrip came in handy. Once the two larger springs were in place, the pin and spring clip were the most challenging to get back on. I needed a third hand to keep the pin pushed in so i could push down on the spring clip and slide the head of the pin down into the slot.
After replacing the rotor and caliper assembly, i adjusted the tension to the point of freezing up, then backed off, as i had read somewhere today while searching this forum as well as other sites. I replaced the wheels and took it for a test drive. I backed up our steep driveway and tested the brake. Would not hold. So I just adjusted up until the brake would not allow any movement on the steep driveway. When i released the brake, the car rolled right away, no drag. So the initial adjustment would not have been adequate. Needed to tweak it about ten clicks upward on the wheel.
I am sure in some manual, i could have found information helpful for this job, but did not have time and with the information i gathered here and other sites, felt it would be doable.
Only had one problem. The two piece arm which attached to the brake cable, outside the brake housing, and pushes against the shoes to apply pressure and set the brake, had become frozen at the joint and was impossible to free up. I ended up having to take the back guard or plate if you will, loose via four large bolts, to allow the guard to slide enough to work the two piece arm out of the housing. Once out, i applied "free all" penetrant which my local mechanic recommended. It worked miracles and after several hammerings back and forth, the joint freed up, and it was ready to return to the housing, instead of having to buy a new one. It was a little tricky to get it back thru the plate, reseat the rubber weather cap it fit into, but just mostly took time to get things to line up.
This was a learning experience. I hope this information will help someone else.
One other tip --- make sure you take your old parts with you and check the new ones closely. The parking brake shoes that the book called for would not work. The ones for an 02 explorer sport did work, so they used some 02 parts on the 03, i guess depending on when it was made. s
To replace the parking brake shoes, need to back off all the tension on the shoes, by turning the adjustment wheel so the teeth on wheel move downward. Need to remove the caliper housing and then the rotor will slide right off after you remove the two retainer clips on the lug bolts. May need to hammer on the rotor if it hasnt been off in a while, to loosen for easier removal.
This exposes the parking brake shoes. Two springs hold the top shoes together. One spring is easily seen in the front, but if you do not have a manual the spring behind the shoes at the top is a surprise. The bottom of the shoes is held together by a smaller spring and the adjustment arm fits in between the shoes, just as on older drum type brakes. Two retaining pins must be removed. These are held by tension via spring clip. It takes some manuvering to get them off, and then even more to get them back on.
To replace the new shoes, i chose to put the spring and adjustment bar together on the bottom, and slip the top of the two shoes up around axle, while keeping tension on the bottom. The springs are tricky to get stretching between the two shoes and a needlenose visegrip came in handy. Once the two larger springs were in place, the pin and spring clip were the most challenging to get back on. I needed a third hand to keep the pin pushed in so i could push down on the spring clip and slide the head of the pin down into the slot.
After replacing the rotor and caliper assembly, i adjusted the tension to the point of freezing up, then backed off, as i had read somewhere today while searching this forum as well as other sites. I replaced the wheels and took it for a test drive. I backed up our steep driveway and tested the brake. Would not hold. So I just adjusted up until the brake would not allow any movement on the steep driveway. When i released the brake, the car rolled right away, no drag. So the initial adjustment would not have been adequate. Needed to tweak it about ten clicks upward on the wheel.
I am sure in some manual, i could have found information helpful for this job, but did not have time and with the information i gathered here and other sites, felt it would be doable.
Only had one problem. The two piece arm which attached to the brake cable, outside the brake housing, and pushes against the shoes to apply pressure and set the brake, had become frozen at the joint and was impossible to free up. I ended up having to take the back guard or plate if you will, loose via four large bolts, to allow the guard to slide enough to work the two piece arm out of the housing. Once out, i applied "free all" penetrant which my local mechanic recommended. It worked miracles and after several hammerings back and forth, the joint freed up, and it was ready to return to the housing, instead of having to buy a new one. It was a little tricky to get it back thru the plate, reseat the rubber weather cap it fit into, but just mostly took time to get things to line up.
This was a learning experience. I hope this information will help someone else.
One other tip --- make sure you take your old parts with you and check the new ones closely. The parking brake shoes that the book called for would not work. The ones for an 02 explorer sport did work, so they used some 02 parts on the 03, i guess depending on when it was made. s
