In doing work on my car one of the times I had the rear in the air I realized the rear brakes wouldn't stop the rear wheels. Even when elevated. I took them apart and looked. All hardware in them is new. The pads looks just as new I bought it in Dec. but only put about 20 miles on it since so I don't know how new but they look to have close to 3/8" friction material on them.

The parking brake is equally as weak. I can pull the handle all the way up. That won't hold the car or the elevated wheels but it does actuate just enough to hold the wheels to break the lugs free so I know it DOES work.

Braking on the road feels fine. Pedal feels good. I bled them to be safe.

See is how they don't work via pedal or cable that would lead me to rule out anything up front, brake lines, master cylinder etc. All hardware is newer, clean, adjusted.

I manually adjusted them and also did some heavy braking in reverse.

Its a '91 so it doesn't have the e-brake tunnel adjustment.

Any ideas PLEASE.

 

Check the brake shoes, the ones with the lesser material (shorter length) need to be toward the front of the car. This is on both sides.

Other then that we need pictures.

Or, it may be the rubber brake line that runs from the frame to the rear. That too will cause braking issues.

RBob.

 

9 times out of 10, its going to be the adjuster that spreads the shoes not being adjusted correctly. This will count for the rear brakes not grabbing and the e-brake handle going all the way up. Spin the adjuster to where the shoes make a light drag on the drum when spinning by hand.

 

Last night I took them apart and they were backwards. I put them back together and still the same result. I'm going to pop the wheels off and adjust them further tonight if that doesn't do it I guess I am going to replace the rubber line.

 

I adjusted them again and still the same thing. Rear elevated in gear brake pedal on the floor it stops them for a split second but not enough force to hold them stopped....the start spinning again but not as fast, even while pedal is down hard.

E-brake has nearly no tension, I crawled under and looked at the split in the tunnel. I have about an inch to 1.5" of extra play in the cable but its a later model so it has no adjustment except at the brakes themselves.

I don't want to throw money at things its probably not so I'll hold off on the rubber line seeing as how the e-brake not working either kind of rules that out.

Here are two pictures. Are these built correctly? The only part you can't really see in the pics is the arm for the parking brake section. That is behind the pad pivoting on the hole the retaining spring uses.

 

Last night I took both sides completely apart and rebuilt them according to this picture



They are back together exactly how that picture is. Except a minor thing or two its exactly how they were. But they still don't work.

I don't get it. Also I noticed at the e-brake split if I have the slip bracket tight on both rear cables I have about an inch to 1-1/4" slack on the front cable.

 

I feel like I'm talking to myself here but I accidentally fixed 1/2 of the problem. The parking brake is fixed. I applied the e-brake while the drum was off and somehow that changed something and now the e-brake works. Actually works well, it has enough to hold the car with the handle pulled up maybe 30 degrees.

Primary rear brakes are still weak, I guess I'll change the rubber line now.

 

I hope you hooked that rigid "spring" into the adjuster lever correctly.
Going by that picture it'd be the first thing that flew apart when braking.
And the spring on the lower end of that lever is also missing.

Btw: You've got the exact opposite problem I have. My brakes are always sticking and my setup looks like the one in that picture (except the above stuff).
And I can pull my parking brake almost up to the roof, let's say about 60° until it really keeps the vehicle in its position.

Edit:

My driver's side springs are also installed the other way around, incl. the adjustment lever. The lever always attaches to the rear, I think.

 

That picture is just showing which I used as a reference. That's not my car

 

I think you not adjusting them tight enough. You need to feel drag on the drum when you try to spin it. Don't lock them down.

Those self adjusters are "suppose" to adjust/tighten the shoes when you are moving the car around in reverse and applying the brake. But, its a poor design and doesn't actually work correctly.

 

Pay close attention and get both sides the same.

 

When applying the parking brake, always pump the brake pedal a couple times before hand.


There is actually a spring missing from the picture. Do you know which one I am talking about?

 

I know

Just wanted to point it out for everybody.

 

Yes, not sure officially what its called but I'll call it the adjuster tension spring

 

Make sure the adjusters are on the correct side, they can be turned and the star teeth are not stripped. They should be a RH and LH thread but a third gen may be different. The arm will pull up on the star wheel when braking in reverse if the adjustment is backed off enough for it to grab a tooth. When the arm pulls up on the star wheel, the adjuster will expand (lengthen).

The sample picture you provided is for the right side of the vehicle. The left side will be a mirror image. If you did both sides like the sample picture then the left side is wrong. At least the shoes would be.

No offense to anyone wanting to do their own brake work providing they have enough knowledge but how much is your time worth? Taking it into a brake shop to have it done once the first time could have saved you a lot of time. I've seen a lot of poorly installed brakes done by people trying to save a buck before taking it in to be done properly. It's hard to tell a customer that the parts they installed are wrong or damaged and need to be replaced again or that they need a lot more work done to finish the brake job.

Keep trying the suggestions. Someone might eventually get you pointed in the right direction to solve your issue.

 

Which makes me see that the first picture up there, from the driver's side, has the adjuster arm on the wrong side.
This will probably turn the adjuster screw inward when braking normally, creating a greater gap between the brake shoe and the drum.