[jmrc94]

Hello,
I need help with the handbrake on my '89 Sierra W/T.

The handbrake cable appears too long even when fully adjusted. When driving the handbrake lever must be on to make the brake pedal work properly, otherwise it goes to the floor. we put a spacer in the cable the keep tension and now the lever moves only seven clicks but does not work - only makes the pedal brakes work better still. When the handbrake is on the shoes don't seem to come out far enough, only a few millimeters.

Any help will be appreciated.

-Josh

[royce]

loosen the cable and undo it from the levers poking out the backing plate

remove your drums and make sure you actually have some brake shoe left and the adjusters arent rusted or mudded up

adjust the brakes manually till the drum just slides on, you really want it to be a bit hard to turn the drum by hand

druve it around a bit giving the brakes a few jabs to get the auto adjusters to take up a bit more slack, if you dont have a good pedal now your drums are probably oversize and nothing will help you unless you replace them

only once you have the brakes working and adjusted well can you hook the cable back up and set it to get the number of clicks you want, note doing it up more doesnt make anything work better, it just pulls on the adjusters a bit till the shoes wear and then it all gets worse as you are passing the fulcrum point of the handbrake levers

[jmrc94]

thanks for the reply
there is plenty of pad left and the drum hasnt been worn.
how do I adjust the brakes manually? the ratchet/cog piece is fully extended.
thanks again

EDIT: also I don't understand why the handbrake cable is too long.

[royce]

if the ratchet cog is fully extended your drums are too big, they are either the wrong ones or worn out

We are only talking a few mm from new to stuffed here

the cable isnt too long, the more you do the cable up, the more it lets you

[jmrc94]

the drum is 220mil which is what the repair manual says is standard. my friends narrow track has the same size drums. what other drums are available?

[royce]

have you measured them with calipers?

regardless of size, if your adjusters are right out, your drums are too big or your shoes are worn and too small or a combination of both, its really easy to get to the point where you chuck the shoes at half worn

[jmrc94]

ok thanks.
is it a possibility that I have the wrong shoes altogether? are there maybe two sizes that will fit my model and i happen to have the wrong ones?

[want33s]

jmrc94 wrote:

ok thanks.
is it a possibility that I have the wrong shoes altogether? are there maybe two sizes that will fit my model and i happen to have the wrong ones?

Not likely.. If they fitted in there they are the right ones.
Part No. 1617

[coily96]

ive had this problem before, had no handbrake and not much
pedal, pedal got better when handbrake was pulled up. I could
get a hard pedal until i started the car, then it went soft. It was the
wheel cylinder piston missing the rh side shoe. Forced out buy loose adjuster
because handbrake cable came loose along the chassis.

[jmrc94]

want33s wrote:

jmrc94 wrote:

ok thanks.
is it a possibility that I have the wrong shoes altogether? are there maybe two sizes that will fit my model and i happen to have the wrong ones?

Not likely.. If they fitted in there they are the right ones.
Part No. 1617

Quite likely apparently since the guy I purchased it from was a bit of a "insert choice of word" going by what we've had to do to fix it up. I just bought part 1617 and they are wider shoes than what is currently installed. I'll get around to install it and I think I'll find it can grab the drum easier.

Thanks for everyone's help.

[jmrc94]

Turns out they will grab the drum better... so much so that I cannot get the drum back on. The handbrake cable is off. Any more help would be good thanks.

[coily96]

Did you back the adjuster off?

[jmrc94]

the ratchet adjuster? Yes. By the looks of it the drum needs skimming. I can't really see any other way of doing it, other than sanding the pads down halfway - which doesnt sound like a good idea. what would be an approximate cost of getting a mil or two taken off?

[coily96]

did you pump the brakes at all while you have been sorting different
shoes? Are the pistons out too far out? They need to be pushed back
in before the drum goes on.