How to: Parking Brake Removal and Installation (with pictures)

[Stic-o]

I am only running one upper retainer spring, normally there are two inner and outer. I needed to remove the outer one so I could run the disc brakes on the full width Bronco/F-150 8.8. Other wise the back of the wheel studs rubs on it. It seem to work just fine so far. Although I don't trust it on a hill yet. I belive that is just a adjustment issue.

From this picture you can see all the parts. Here you can see there are two top springs, one inner and one outer. I only have the inner in mine.




I had to grind on these little nubs for clerance




and grind down the little piece that sticks out here too. Remember I removed this spring seen here.


Parking brake has seem to work perfecly fine now for the last 2 years like this

 

[fordman3557456]

Can anyone tell me why my ebrake doesnt "ratchet" anymore? When i press the pedal theres no noise and my e brake doesnt work. I am going to try this over the weekend.

I have already tried tightening from behind the wheel through the little rubber piece and it hasnt worked. Any suggestions or special tools ill need for this job?

Thanks

Rich

 

[coreman021]

this should be made into a sticky, made a nice sat afternoon job

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

Can anyone tell me why my ebrake doesnt "ratchet" anymore? When i press the pedal theres no noise and my e brake doesnt work.

Rich,

Sounds like something broke in your foot pedal assembly, or one of your cables broke.

Foot Pedal assemblies are about $40-50 from a junkyard, and the new-style "silent" ones do NOT interchange with the older "ratchet" ones.

-Aaron

 

[Brandons]

Great write up, will probably be doing this tonight!

 

[Phreaq]

Good info, nice pictures. Thanks, TJ project 8.8 is almost done

 

[mikepier]

Just out of curiousity, I never use my e-brakes, except for maybe if I park on a steep hill once in a blue-moon. Theoretically if you never use your e-brakes, they don't need replacing correct? How do you know if they need replacing, if the rivets start to show through the brake shoe?

 

[Phreaq]

Unless you drive with it on, this style (disc brake/drum parking brake) parking brake system should never need new shoes.

Of course if the axle has come from a junk yard, or been in a wreck, or some hardware failure due to really high mileage, they may need to be replace.

They shouldn't "wear out" since the vehicle doesn't move when the parking brake is used.

 

[ATJeep]

and grind down the little piece that sticks out here too. Remember I removed this spring seen here.

Sorry to drag up an old thread. I have an 8.8 out of an Explorer on my Jeep and I did exactly what Stic-o did when I converted to a 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern about 2 years ago.
I guess I ground too much off the notched cast piece at the top where the shoes fit in. The mounting point for the shoes has sheared off and I need a new one. It is cast into the mounting bracket for the calipers, so I need the entire caliper mount. Does anyone know where I can find this? I am not having much luck sourcing one.
Also, is "caliper mounting bracket" the right terminology? Maybe I am searching for the wrong thing. I have found just about every part for the axle except the thing I need.

BTW, excellent write up!

 

[Phreaq]

It should be available at least through a junk yard. The bracket bolts to the axle behind the backing plate.

currie sells the backing plate/caliper bracket/parking brakes as one whole assy but thats a little overkill

 

[zakier]

wonderful instructions

my pbrake works when I press the pedal all the way to the floor

is there a method to adj the cable so the pbrake will grab and hold with less travel of the pbrake pedal?

 

[redexplorersport]

Alot of great info that i will be using very soon

 

[explorerguy89]

illbe doin this for inspection which is overdue =o

 

[Electrohacker]

my E-brakes have been seized for at least 6 years... I was going to just put on a trans brake, but now I might consider using this as a starting point

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

If your rotors' drum surface is at all rusty, sand it clean/shiny with 150 grit paper. That made the biggest difference in the performance of my brakes.

 

[1oldguy]

2004 explorer XLT replaced rear brake pads and rotors. Obviously have not had a functional parking brake for a long time. On passenger side PB linings were nonexistent and on driver's side linings were laying inside drum. Both drum surfaces were heavily rusted. Judging from other posts, this is a recurring problem and probably should have prompted a recall. My PB shoes had only one spring (on front). I removed this assy. and will replace when it is warmer and I have another pair of hands and new hdwe. It looks like the shoes can be attached to the spring and slipped in as an assy. if both wheels are off the ground and the hub can be rotated to allow the lug stud to be rotated to allow the spring to slip into place. A long time ago I heard that Ford is known for mid-year changes. I will post an update after completion.

 

[not_all_there]

Have an 03 xlt same brake issue no rubber plug on driver side and passenger side had steel knock out plate.

 

[1oldguy]

On the 2004 XLT, neither knockout had been removed. I am unsure why the rear brakes were designed this way. I think using a PB cable to clamp the dics pads in a fashion similar to a linear pull bike brake would have been just as effective and much cheaper. I cannot imagine that drum brakes could be cheaper than disc after you pay a UAW worker's wages to assemble the drum brakes. That said, I think drum brakes are better for fuel economy because they are not always dragging a little like discs. This could be resolved with a return spring or opposed piston calipers.

 

[cruz38]

Theoretically speaking...

These brakes do wear out. I just replaced mine at 170000 miles because they were cracked and chipped off in places.. This wasnt due to use but because of the heat that builds up in there.. Everyone should check these when replacing your rear brakes to do a thorough job.

JMO.

Cruz

 

[1oldguy]

Mine never got the chance to wear out. It was obvious that the parking brake linings had broken loose from the shoes early on. The parking brake drum surfaces looked like the drums had been left outside since 2004.