I can adjust the brakes and all is fine. I use the emergency brake and only the passenger side is holding. I adjusted the driver's side cable until it came totally out of the tube, effectively pulling on the e-brake lever at the caliper all but tight, but it still doesn't engage. I thought it was a mechanical induction. Something must be amiss inside.

Try moving the lever on the caliper with a pry bar. If it doesn't move, contact Eric Shea about a set of rebuilt calipers.

You shoul adjust the brake pad to caliper spacing on the caliper that is not working!

The lever moves when you pull the e-brake lever and also when adjusting the cable. I can have it pulled all the way and I can still turn the wheel by hand.

I can adjust the brake to where the pad is dragging on the rotor and still it won't hold enough to keep me from turning the wheel by hand. Is there something internal to the built in mechanical lever that can break?

Are you adjusting the caliper by removing the cover shown in the photo below? If you are then you may have a stripped adjuster or a frozen piston!

Yes remove the cover, loosen the locking nut and adjust the pads distance to the rotor. It all seems to work except the parking brake. I know the piston isn't stuck as I already rebuilt them.

Have you tried to manualy engage the brake at the caliper to see if it can be engaged?

Thinking out side the box but could the rotor not be seated all of the way on so you don't get the squeeze from both sides? Or the hub not seated all of the way into the bearing?

DOH! It's hell to get old and be forgetful. I just remembered the e-brake adjuster in the caliper. Time to break out the allen wrench.

Yep thats it!!

Good for you!

So I've been adjusting the e brakes this weekend. Driver Side is fine. Passenger side does not engage and the adjustment nut on back of firewall is as far as I can adjust it. So I researched and saw this post. What brake adjuster is in the caliper? There's just an inner and outer for the pad.???

I'm so confused. How do you adjust the brake if the venting gaps are correct and you have no more turns on the firewall nut?

I believe Wardsweb was talking about the inner adjuster that he forgot about when adjusting the venting clearance. You are correct that there are only 2 pistons and only 2 adjusters. In your case your passenger side cable is too long (stretched) or broken or not attached to the equalizer. Take a look at the equalizer and you will see the problem. the equalizer should be 90 degrees to the cable that goes to the handbrake.

I have just replaced both e-brake cables. The equalizer behind the driver seat is a good 90 degrees. Could the cable from the handle to the equalizer be stretched?


Thanks!

When you pull the ebrake handle all the way and locked see if the ebrake arms on the calipers are pulled all the way........if the passengers side is pulled all the way inward but no inner piston movement I would think the "pill" may have been left out when the caliper's inner adjuster was installed.

I don't think the equalizer cable would stretch much, it should measure 7 5/8 " between the swages (measure just the cable). If it is much longer it is possible the cable is slipping out of either of the swaged ends. Also you could verify that the ebrake portion is operating correctly on the caliper by removing the cable from the caliper and use a wrench that will allow you to manually lever the arm to it's full pulled position and see if the inner piston will push the pad against the disk. Just don't lever it too hard against the spring stop and break it off.