Mind you, this is in my 91 Camaro, but my entire parking brake system including handle lever, all cables forward and rear, top tunnel bracket, as well as 3.42 disk brake rear axle are all from LS1 cars.

The handle pulls up like normal. It goes to about a 50-60 degree angle and tightens up like a parking brake handle should. Once in this position, the car will still roll forward. The brake works fine if I try to roll backwards. I can easily kill the engine trying to reverse against the parking brake but I can easily roll forward right through it.

If I really put some strength into it and muscle hard on the handle lever, it will *somewhat* prevent the car from rolling forward down a mild driveway but it still isn't holding very well.

How can I fix this? It's a manual so I have to be very careful about where I park this thing and it worries me when I let other people (family.....) drive the car. Should I be looking at the axle (under the brake rotors), or at the spring mechanism on the handle lever?

 

sounds like the cables are too long/not set properly, or the inner drum parking brake shoe is worn out. there is also an adjuster on the backing plate that the drum attaches too. You can turn that out a bit to tighten things up. But defiantly check the material left of the shoe.

 

I've never owned a car that wouldn't roll forward on the E-Brake. 1970 Malibu, 1975 Pontiac Bonneville, 1979 Jeep, 1977 T/A, 1981 Nissan 310GX, 1987 Nissan Pulsar, 1991 Explorer, 1996 Explorer, 1995 Lumina APV, 1990 RS, 1992 RS, 1997 Z28 - they've ALL rolled forward on the E-Brake when in neutral. All of my parents cars, brothers cars, wive's cars - I've personally just never seen a car that would hold on the ebrake alone - foward that is. They all held backwards. Maybe why San Francisco folks always park facing uphill. In theory they should hold - but in reality I've never seen it.

 

Boy, my LS1 parking brake holds like crazy. They can lock the rears at 25 mph easily. You definately need to check and see what's wrong with them.

 

By any chance is your idle speed high?

 

My LS parking brake could hold my car on a San Fransisco down hill all day long, my vote goes on shoes being bad if he says that it tightens like an ebrake should, maybe it was over used and scored and shotty inside? Have to take it apart to look really.

 

I thought about this, and how I'm saying it is misleading in what I meant.

What I meant was, every car I've ever owned or drove would roll forward when parked with the ebrake engaged, but wouldn't roll backward when parked. At speed, pulling the ebrake would always slow them down alot, and a quick yank would lock the rears.

It's just at park, they always seem to roll forward but not backward. My driveway slopes downhill - if I pull in forward heading down, and I put car in PARK, yank up ebrake, and then let off the footbrake, the car always rolls forward until the tranny catches PARK. If I back in, and do the same, I can leave the car in reverse, apply footbrake, yank ebrake, let off footbrake while still in reverse even, and the car will not move.

That's what I was referring to. Has been that way on every car I ever owned.

 

Hmm, thats odd, only issue I've had a similar result in like yours was my truck when I put 33s on it, but then again, never tried adjusting the ebrake, just use the tranny to park.