Made an Auto Repair Tech Miserable Today- Parking Brake Shoe and Hardware Replacement

[mark2016]

Last weekend I replaced rear original rotors and pads on my 2001 Ex. The rotors were stuck on pretty good and in the process of tapping them to remove the emergency brake shoe pads separated from the shoes themselves. Getting the old shoes and hardware out was pretty ugly as they were crusty rusty, but I had no idea how insanely bad it could be to try and replace them. With the wheel hub on the end of the axle shaft there is about an inch of room to work with to try and get these tightly sprung pieces back in, and of course I didn't have any spring pliers or other drum tools. I gave up today and took it in to a pro, and I didn't feel so bad when it took him 3hrs (twice the projected labor time but I wasn't charged extra) and he swore up and down it's one of the worst jobs he's ever had to do. Short of pulling the axles it takes hands the size of my one year old and the strength of Thor to make this happen. Glad it's done now and I didn't tear up my hands any worse. Rant over.

 

[koda2000]

Last weekend I replaced rear original rotors and pads on my 2001 Ex. The rotors were stuck on pretty good and in the process of tapping them to remove the emergency brake shoe pads separated from the shoes themselves. Getting the old shoes and hardware out was pretty ugly as they were crusty rusty, but I had no idea how insanely bad it could be to try and replace them. With the wheel hub on the end of the axle shaft there is about an inch of room to work with to try and get these tightly sprung pieces back in, and of course I didn't have any spring pliers or other drum tools. I gave up today and took it in to a pro, and I didn't feel so bad when it took him 3hrs (twice the projected labor time but I wasn't charged extra) and he swore up and down it's one of the worst jobs he's ever had to do. Short of pulling the axles it takes hands the size of my one year old and the strength of Thor to make this happen. Glad it's done now and I didn't tear up my hands any worse. Rant over.

Yep, a miserable job and I did it with a pinched nerve in my shoulder in July, in the sun in Georgia. I will never again do this job w/out pulling the axles.

 

[SoHK_alumni]

Yep, it's an axles out job to not be a frustrating knuckle buster.

Popping the axles out is not difficult or time consuming, the only "down side" is simply the cost of fresh gear oil and friction modifier.

Yea, the parking brakes can be done with the axles in place, but WHY?

 

[mark2016]

Yep, it's an axles out job to not be a frustrating knuckle buster. Popping the axles out is not difficult or time consuming, the only "down side" is simply the cost of fresh gear oil and friction modifier. Yea, the parking brakes can be done with the axles in place, but WHY?

I had enough of dealing with it and conceded defeat for once. The instructions they pulled up at the shop showed to do it with the axles in which I still can barely believe is possible. This was a "better him than me" moment between me and the tech.

 

[boominXplorer]

The key on doing them without pulling the axles is to hook both top springs between the shoes and wedge them in behind the axle and into place. After that putting the bottom ones on aren't too bad.

 

[Robman]

And there's the reason I never use the parking brake on any vehicle I own or drive.

I don't trust them to release, lol. When you're getting a vehicle certified I guess it's a different story.

I've seen how silly of a design it is.

 

[swshawaii]

^ Good reasons to USE the parking brake is to prevent seizing, safety, and uneeded stress on the parking pawl on hills.

 

[Robman]

^ Good reasons to USE the parking brake is to prevent seizing, safety, and uneeded stress on the parking pawl on hills.

I choose my parking spots carefully and live far from San Fran

There will always be those who use it and those who don't. My current explorer is a standard and I still don't use it. I dislike any semblance of a drum brake on my vehicle, lol

 

[mark2016]

I choose my parking spots carefully and live far from San Fran

There will always be those who use it and those who don't. My current explorer is a standard and I still don't use it. I dislike any semblance of a drum brake on my vehicle, lol

I'd trade that parking brake setup for a regular drum anyday. Those at least can be repaired easily! At least I'll probably never have to experience the pain again with this part.

 

[Flash]

I replaced the parking shoes without pulling the axles recently.
It was tricky but not too bad.

 

[gatzdon]

Hmmm. I took a different approach. When mine seized up, I pulled all the parking brake hardware of and never looked back.

 

[1997XLTRollover]

I choose my parking spots carefully and live far from San Fran

There will always be those who use it and those who don't. My current explorer is a standard and I still don't use it. I dislike any semblance of a drum brake on my vehicle, lol

And you've never had your vehicle roll away? All these years you've managed to only park on flat surfaces? Don't come to NJ haha BTW drum brakes aren't so bad. I have them on my Mustang on all 4 corners and I can lock those some *****es up at 60 mph. These are bone stock drums from Ford. Drums are cheap as hell to repair and maintain too compared to disks.

 

[mark2016]

Hmmm. I took a different approach. When mine seized up, I pulled all the parking brake hardware of and never looked back.

I have two issues with this: One my family rides in this vehicle and I drive on roads that other people's families drive on, my ignorance of a safety system on my car cannot allow harm to come to anyone. Two if my vehicle were in an accident it wouldn't be very difficult to find that all the Emergency Brake hardware was missing, or to find that it was present at my last state inspection, leading to the conclusion that I had removed safety equipment from my vehicle intentionally without replacement. Major exposure to liability in litigation.

 

[gatzdon]

I have two issues with this: One my family rides in this vehicle and I drive on roads that other people's families drive on, my ignorance of a safety system on my car cannot allow harm to come to anyone. Two if my vehicle were in an accident it wouldn't be very difficult to find that all the Emergency Brake hardware was missing, or to find that it was present at my last state inspection, leading to the conclusion that I had removed safety equipment from my vehicle intentionally without replacement. Major exposure to liability in litigation.

My rear brakes function just fine.

Parking brake does not equal emergency brake.

 

[mark2016]

My rear brakes function just fine.

Parking brake does not equal emergency brake.

Nope, they probably wouldn't do much in an emergency as they just grab onto the inside ring of the rotor, but the liability issue would be hard to explain away.

 

[gatzdon]

I should also add that using a parking brake to stop a vehicle also come with a significant risk of losing control of the vehicle.

 

[Robman]

And you've never had your vehicle roll away? All these years you've managed to only park on flat surfaces? Don't come to NJ haha BTW drum brakes aren't so bad. I have them on my Mustang on all 4 corners and I can lock those some *****es up at 60 mph. These are bone stock drums from Ford. Drums are cheap as hell to repair and maintain too compared to disks.

To be fair, I have 2 funny stories from my past.

When I had my Ford Rangers (both were standard)
2 instances of retardism in 16 years of driving ain't so bad, I got lucky but they both happened more than a decade ago.

Drum Brakes work but they freeze/seize and get hot/glazed easily and have more moving parts.

I remember when I first drove a Dodge Ram 3500 diesel when they first put rear discs on them, that thing stopped like a car.

I think GM is still trying to figure out how to put rear disc brakes on a truck and not have them seize 5 minutes down the road, haha.

 

[1997XLTRollover]

To be fair, I have 2 funny stories from my past.

When I had my Ford Rangers (both were standard)
2 instances of retardism in 16 years of driving ain't so bad, I got lucky but they both happened more than a decade ago.

Drum Brakes work but they freeze/seize and get hot/glazed easily and have more moving parts.

I remember when I first drove a Dodge Ram 3500 diesel when they first put rear discs on them, that thing stopped like a car.

I think GM is still trying to figure out how to put rear disc brakes on a truck and not have them seize 5 minutes down the road, haha.

All good points I do agree but sometimes I just feel like people think drum brakes don't stop vehicles. I will be upgrading to disks in the future because their pros far outweigh the cons vs drum brakes but I have no real issue with drums.

 

[Flash]

I have no real issue with drums.

They overheat much more quickly and just go on holiday if they get wet.

 

[bluestream1]

I replaced the parking shoes without pulling the axles recently.
It was tricky but not too bad.

Same here, it just has to be done the right way:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147823&highlight=rear+brakes