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Emergency brake adjustment

Discussion in 'Tips and Tricks' started by Seth G., Oct 16, 2021.

  1. Seth G.

    Seth G. New Member

    I have a S81P and when using the emergency brake the right rear is doing all of the work and by "all" I mean barely doing anything which is better than the left rear which is doing nothing. Im wondering how to adjust the cables or if I should replace.

    Also sidenote. Where I can purchase a new rear drum brake cylinder.

    Drums all the way around
     
  2. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    Seth,
    On most vehicles, the problem with the Emergency brake, is that it doesn't get used enough on a regular basis, and they will tend to rust up and kinda freeze in place causing
    problems, that your experiencing! I have unfroze many a brake cables with some time consuming elbow grease! First thing is to work gently with the frozen, rusted parts,
    and lubricate, spray the cable, and let it sit, with a good penetrating oil, like PB Blaster, being care full no to soak your brake shoes! By tapping the Cable shield housing, and not slamming it,
    you can break a lot of it free. Gently, not forcing it, to move. With emergency brake handles you have a lot of leverage, and pulling up hard and fast, can really hurt the mechanisms involved!
    Understand the parts your working with, and how they operate, to better get a handle on what your dealing with! Think about the cables location, and why it's in a protective shield, to try to keep dirt out!
    So with that being said, keeping dirt out is a must, just like trying to get lube in! In the old days cables had grease fittings on them. Today, everything is made to replace! the other problem is parts are hard to come by!
    It's a maintenance issue like most things in life, and once you have it freed up, keep it that way, and you'll be fine! Remember, once it's lubed and free, in it's location it's susceptible to dirt sticking to the wet lube,
    that we use on it, but if you keep it lubed on a regular basis, you can pretty much chase that away! Today's cables are in a sealed shield, in most cases, eliminating these sort of problems!
    If you need to replace the cable, and you cant find an original, a similar more modern up to date cable can be used, searching the internet! No biggy, really!
    Brakes; The rear brake cylinders, I found were readily available, usually, you can find them reasonable on Ebay. The front wheel cylinders, are almost non existent! My wheel cylinders were pitted,
    otherwise I would have had them, re built! It's not that hard to do, and there's still company's out there that do it providing they can get the replacement parts, seals,etc.....
    Don't be afraid to do a little research on the Net, googling you vehicle and parts, as things are changing, and new things do come available!
    Then report back here to possibly help others! G&R Imports is one place guys use, pro line parts out of Cali,(Todd Borthwick) is another.
    I'm hoping others will chime in with other resources, as some go across the pond for parts!
    Good Luck!
    Limestone
     
  3. Seth G.

    Seth G. New Member

    Wow thank you for that information! I'll give all of that a shot and report back on how it goes
     

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