When I got the Mystery Machine in April 2018 the parking brakes did not work at all. That was a big problem since it's parked at the top of my steep driveway. For the first few weeks I put blocks behind the rear wheels to be safe, then finally took it into a local, supposedly trustworthy shop for diagnosis. They said "oh, you need new brakes all around". Hmm, ok, well I hadn't put any money into it yet so if this is all it needs... of course, that was followed a week later by the starter and a few weeks after that by the fuel pump. Had I known, I would have done the brakes myself since I can do those, but don't want to mess with fuel pump/tank.
Fast forward 4 years and lots of knowledge gained from this forum. I just replaced the upper control arms and all the pads myself (rears getting thin) and checked the parking shoes while I'm in there. No F'ing way those were replaced 4 years ago. They were cracked, rusty as hell, and one of them had a big section of pad completely missing. They look like they are probably the originals. So I paid for "brakes all around" and basically got new pads and a professional to turn the parking brake adjuster?
Anyway, just now replaced the shoes. I won't say the parking brake is working any better or differently than before, but I sure feel better.
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