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Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? *UPDATE* #3079820
09/23/22 03:21 AM
09/23/22 03:21 AM
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in a cattle trailer down by th...
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Guitar Jones Offline OP
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Long story short, the parking brake didn't work when I got my '74 crew. Now in FL it wasn't a big deal, but I replaced the front cable, shoes and cylinders, I did not replace the drums, still didn't hold the truck. Everything works as it should and moves freely. So now I'm in the mountains and a parking brake is sorely needed as there isn't a level piece of ground to be found and some spots are pretty steep. So I replaced the drums, still won't hold the truck. Figured the shoes were cheap crap so I replaced them with Napa premium shoes, $80 worth. Now it is only slightly better if I really push the pedal through the firewall. Are the linings really that crappy any more? I haven't done much with drum brakes in the last decade or two. Do the shoes need to seated like some disc pads do?
I thought about converting to rear discs like I did my '92 but didn't want to spend that money on it right now. I might put a 1/4 turn ball valve in the front brake line like I did to the rears of the '92. That works well on that truck. Forgot, it's a full floating Dana 60 axle with 12 x 2-1/2 brakes.


"Follow me the wise man said, but he walked behind"


'92 D250 Club Cab CTD, 47RH conversion, pump tweaks, injectors, rear disc and hydroboost conversion.
'74 W200 Crew Cab 360, NV4500, D44, D60 and NP205 divorced transfer case. Rear disc and hydroboost coming soon!
2019 1500 Long Horn Crew Cab 4WD, 5.7 Hemi.
Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: Guitar Jones] #3079825
09/23/22 06:16 AM
09/23/22 06:16 AM
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A Red State
SNK-EYZ Offline
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It might sound like a silly question, but have you adjusted the parking brake cable adjuster????


Kayse can't keep up at all now. lol
Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: SNK-EYZ] #3079851
09/23/22 08:38 AM
09/23/22 08:38 AM
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in a cattle trailer down by th...
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Guitar Jones Offline OP
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Yes. The shoes expand against the drum and the pedal gets hard before the end of it's travel. It just doesn't stop the truck from rolling. Before replacing the shoes there was very little resistance, now it drags, but very slightly. Not enough to hold the truck.


"Follow me the wise man said, but he walked behind"


'92 D250 Club Cab CTD, 47RH conversion, pump tweaks, injectors, rear disc and hydroboost conversion.
'74 W200 Crew Cab 360, NV4500, D44, D60 and NP205 divorced transfer case. Rear disc and hydroboost coming soon!
2019 1500 Long Horn Crew Cab 4WD, 5.7 Hemi.
Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: Guitar Jones] #3079854
09/23/22 09:00 AM
09/23/22 09:00 AM
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So Near, Yet So Far
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Back in the day, we used to "arc" the shoes so they made full contact with the drums.
New shoes mostly just made contact at their leading & trailing edges unless that was done.
That said, you'd probably notice poor braking performance in general without full contact.
Other than that, the parking brake is pretty much just cable & hardware.

Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: topside] #3079856
09/23/22 09:05 AM
09/23/22 09:05 AM
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in a cattle trailer down by th...
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Guitar Jones Offline OP
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Originally Posted by topside
Back in the day, we used to "arc" the shoes so they made full contact with the drums.
New shoes mostly just made contact at their leading & trailing edges unless that was done.
That said, you'd probably notice poor braking performance in general without full contact.
Other than that, the parking brake is pretty much just cable & hardware.

Yeah, but that was usually done after turning the drum. I thought of that, but with new shoes and new drums they should match, it looked ok when I set the shoes in the drum.
Honestly the brakes aren't all that and a bag of chips anyway, but they are not horrible. I may drive it awhile then get the rear wheels off the ground and see how well the service brakes hold it.


"Follow me the wise man said, but he walked behind"


'92 D250 Club Cab CTD, 47RH conversion, pump tweaks, injectors, rear disc and hydroboost conversion.
'74 W200 Crew Cab 360, NV4500, D44, D60 and NP205 divorced transfer case. Rear disc and hydroboost coming soon!
2019 1500 Long Horn Crew Cab 4WD, 5.7 Hemi.
Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: Guitar Jones] #3079859
09/23/22 09:20 AM
09/23/22 09:20 AM
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I wounder if the cable is possibly stretching?

Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: mopars4ever] #3079895
09/23/22 10:45 AM
09/23/22 10:45 AM
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in a cattle trailer down by th...
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Guitar Jones Offline OP
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Originally Posted by mopars4ever
I wounder if the cable is possibly stretching?

I doubt that, Like I said the pedal gets really hard, you can't possibly get another click on it. The shoes are pressed as hard on the drum as it can be.


"Follow me the wise man said, but he walked behind"


'92 D250 Club Cab CTD, 47RH conversion, pump tweaks, injectors, rear disc and hydroboost conversion.
'74 W200 Crew Cab 360, NV4500, D44, D60 and NP205 divorced transfer case. Rear disc and hydroboost coming soon!
2019 1500 Long Horn Crew Cab 4WD, 5.7 Hemi.
Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: Guitar Jones] #3079955
09/23/22 01:17 PM
09/23/22 01:17 PM
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Omaha Ne
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TJP Offline
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Originally Posted by Guitar Jones
Originally Posted by topside
Back in the day, we used to "arc" the shoes so they made full contact with the drums.
New shoes mostly just made contact at their leading & trailing edges unless that was done.
That said, you'd probably notice poor braking performance in general without full contact.
Other than that, the parking brake is pretty much just cable & hardware.

Yeah, but that was usually done after turning the drum. I thought of that, but with new shoes and new drums they should match, it looked ok when I set the shoes in the drum.
Honestly the brakes aren't all that and a bag of chips anyway, but they are not horrible. I may drive it awhile then get the rear wheels off the ground and see how well the service brakes hold it.


the bolded part of your statement may be worth considering. Also if you have rear contact issues it is unlikely you would notice it as most of the braking is down by the fronts.
Most 'parking brakes hold better going forward than back. Another thing I have found is that applying the brakes hard before setting the park brake will better align the shoes resulting in more holding/contact wink

one could aso inspect the shoes to verify the lining contact area beer

Last edited by TJP; 09/23/22 01:18 PM.
Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: TJP] #3079961
09/23/22 01:24 PM
09/23/22 01:24 PM
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Guitar Jones Offline OP
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You do realize what a PITA it is to pull the drums off this don't you? laugh2


"Follow me the wise man said, but he walked behind"


'92 D250 Club Cab CTD, 47RH conversion, pump tweaks, injectors, rear disc and hydroboost conversion.
'74 W200 Crew Cab 360, NV4500, D44, D60 and NP205 divorced transfer case. Rear disc and hydroboost coming soon!
2019 1500 Long Horn Crew Cab 4WD, 5.7 Hemi.
Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: Guitar Jones] #3079979
09/23/22 01:55 PM
09/23/22 01:55 PM
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I've got the same problem with a Duster. Pull that handle as hard as you can and it still won't hold the car on an incline. The car stops fine other than that.

New cables, new brakes including new drums that came on a rear end I had built for it. It didn't have the e-brake arm on the shoes at first but I found a couple and installed them.

I dunno. shruggy


69 road runner A12 ex-racer
71 Duster w/ a 400

Shiny paint causes stress.
Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: Bob Stinson] #3079986
09/23/22 02:11 PM
09/23/22 02:11 PM
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Grand Prairie,Texas
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Dumb question but did you install the short shoes to the front of the backing plate and long to the rear?

Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: stumpy] #3079993
09/23/22 02:29 PM
09/23/22 02:29 PM
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Even dumber question, do you fully apply the service brake before trying to engage the parking brake lever?

Did you adjust the shoes?

Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: stumpy] #3080006
09/23/22 03:12 PM
09/23/22 03:12 PM
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in a cattle trailer down by th...
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Guitar Jones Offline OP
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Originally Posted by stumpy
Dumb question but did you install the short shoes to the front of the backing plate and long to the rear?

Primary shoes on the front, secondary shoes on the rear, so yes.


"Follow me the wise man said, but he walked behind"


'92 D250 Club Cab CTD, 47RH conversion, pump tweaks, injectors, rear disc and hydroboost conversion.
'74 W200 Crew Cab 360, NV4500, D44, D60 and NP205 divorced transfer case. Rear disc and hydroboost coming soon!
2019 1500 Long Horn Crew Cab 4WD, 5.7 Hemi.
Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: Sniper] #3080008
09/23/22 03:18 PM
09/23/22 03:18 PM
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in a cattle trailer down by th...
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Guitar Jones Offline OP
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Originally Posted by Sniper
Even dumber question, do you fully apply the service brake before trying to engage the parking brake lever?

Did you adjust the shoes?

Yes the brakes are properly adjusted. I replaced the self adjusters with the drums as some teeth were missing on one of the star wheels, they were probably original to the truck as I believe the drums may have been also.
I have not applied the service brake while setting the parking brake, I am going to try that though.


"Follow me the wise man said, but he walked behind"


'92 D250 Club Cab CTD, 47RH conversion, pump tweaks, injectors, rear disc and hydroboost conversion.
'74 W200 Crew Cab 360, NV4500, D44, D60 and NP205 divorced transfer case. Rear disc and hydroboost coming soon!
2019 1500 Long Horn Crew Cab 4WD, 5.7 Hemi.
Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: Bob Stinson] #3080010
09/23/22 03:22 PM
09/23/22 03:22 PM
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in a cattle trailer down by th...
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Guitar Jones Offline OP
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Originally Posted by Bob Stinson
I've got the same problem with a Duster. Pull that handle as hard as you can and it still won't hold the car on an incline. The car stops fine other than that.

New cables, new brakes including new drums that came on a rear end I had built for it. It didn't have the e-brake arm on the shoes at first but I found a couple and installed them.

I dunno. shruggy

I guess I'm not the only one then. I'm going to try a few things, maybe tomorrow if I drive it, and it warms up a little.


"Follow me the wise man said, but he walked behind"


'92 D250 Club Cab CTD, 47RH conversion, pump tweaks, injectors, rear disc and hydroboost conversion.
'74 W200 Crew Cab 360, NV4500, D44, D60 and NP205 divorced transfer case. Rear disc and hydroboost coming soon!
2019 1500 Long Horn Crew Cab 4WD, 5.7 Hemi.
Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: Guitar Jones] #3080096
09/23/22 07:20 PM
09/23/22 07:20 PM
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Central NY
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the old parking brakes never worked very good,even when the vehicle was brand new.they always worker better in reverse,but not very good.

Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: GarageDodge] #3080100
09/23/22 07:35 PM
09/23/22 07:35 PM
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Originally Posted by GarageDodge
the old parking brakes never worked very good,even when the vehicle was brand new.they always worker better in reverse,but not very good.


They are parking brakes, designed to hold the vehicle, not emergency brakes designed to be used when the vehicle is in motion.

Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: Guitar Jones] #3080106
09/23/22 07:52 PM
09/23/22 07:52 PM
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I had a similar problem with my 91 W250.

Replaced the rear drums, shoes, etc., and the I could not get the parking brake to hold the truck. As I always considered the parking brake was an "emergency brake", my test was to drive the truck and while moving, pull the parking brake lever and hit the parking brake lever to see if the truck would stop in an emergency. It always worked before I replaced the factory original drums but not after I replaced the original drums with aftermarket drums.
While trying to adjust the parking in accordance with the FSM, I could feel and hear that the shoes were not in contact with the drum for a complete revolution. My conclusion was that the "new" drums were out of round and not machined correctly and probably should have been turned to make sure they were round. I got rid of the truck shortly after and did not get a chance to verify my theory. But if I had it to do over, I would have taken the new drums and had them chucked up in a brake lathe to make sure.

Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: ro23_j] #3080111
09/23/22 08:06 PM
09/23/22 08:06 PM
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in a cattle trailer down by th...
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Guitar Jones Offline OP
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in a cattle trailer down by th...
If the drums were out of round you would have felt that in the parking brake pedal during your test.


"Follow me the wise man said, but he walked behind"


'92 D250 Club Cab CTD, 47RH conversion, pump tweaks, injectors, rear disc and hydroboost conversion.
'74 W200 Crew Cab 360, NV4500, D44, D60 and NP205 divorced transfer case. Rear disc and hydroboost coming soon!
2019 1500 Long Horn Crew Cab 4WD, 5.7 Hemi.
Re: Parking brake won't hold, what am I missing? [Re: Guitar Jones] #3080128
09/23/22 09:06 PM
09/23/22 09:06 PM
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TJP Offline
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Find a nice steep hill.
Aplly the park brake going forward: establish effectiveness of the PB by itself.
Then, release the PB, apply the brakes hard before setting the park brake. Repeat test.
relese the PB again.
then Apply the parking brake and then hit the pedal hard repeat test.

Either should result in better contact but one may work better than the other. Testing on the same hill will identify if either method improves the effectiveness

might also try applying the parking brake for short periods while moving to help arc them to the drum. Do allow adequate cool down periods and obviously don't overheat them. beer

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