Hey,

I have a 1990 IROC with 4-wheel disc brakes. First of all, my parking brake doesn't hold the car at all. It gets tight after about 7 clicks of the lever, but still nothing. Secondly, when I was backing my car back down off of my ramps the other day, and hit the brake... I noticed that my front tires locked up and started sliding but my back wheels kept spinning! And, finally... I am hearing some type of 'rubbing' noise coming from the passenger's side rear brake/wheel at speeds over 5mph. All of these things led me to believe that I just needed to change my rear brake pads... However, the pads are in decent shape and the rotors look good?!?!

Any help would be appreciated... -Thanks

 

This seems to be a common problem with rear disc brakes. I followed the various brake issues for several years on this board before actually joining and this is how I solved the spinning rear tire issue on a rear disc set-up. By the way, if you search the message board and archives, you will find a wealth of information on brakes.

Four years ago I replaced every component in the brake system except for the steel lines. I noticed that a previous owner had changed one of the parking brake cables at the drivers side rear caliper and it had a different end on it, causing uneven pressure on the calipers. Eventually, the parking brake quit working on the drivers side.

When I got time, I replaced all three parking brake cables. I spent several hours removing and reinstalling the drivers side parking brake actuator until I was sure that I had an "even" pull on both calipers. After I was done, the parking brake would hold both wheels tight.

Due to machining tolerances and component differences, the procedure for adjusting the rear calipers in the GM service manual left the parking brake actuating ratchet in the pistons at different positions on each side. The result was one set of pads farther away from the rotor on the drivers side. I ended up rotating the actuator one hex flat before reinstalling everything.

Since I'm going to be rebuilding the steering and suspension in the next few weeks, I'm also replacing the rotors, front and back (since mine were at minimum spec, the last time I did brake work) and will have to go thru the parking brake "alignment" again.

Hope this helps.