Problem with parking brake- not holding car

[resq302]

Well some of you might remember the issue I had with the brass hold off valve for my car a couple weeks ago.  Everything is now all back together and had it out for a drive today and ran great.  Only problem is when I had it backed out of the garage and on my driveway, the parking brake did not hold the car on the slight hill.  I adjusted the rear brakes so there was a slight drag to them prior to backing the car out of the garage.  Today I adjusted the e-brake cable and the pedal is now nice and tight but the car still doesn't want to be held back that much by the e-brake.

What should I look at doing next?  Adjust the bendix adjuster out more on the rear brakes or keep tightening up the adjustment on the parking brake cable?  I'm kinda leaning towards jacking up the rear axle again and trying to adjust the rear brakes more.  What is everyones thoughts here?

[bill440rt]

Check the slack on the P-brake cable. There should be little to no slack. 

[resq302]

Bill,

I adjusted it to the point that the cable seems pretty tight.  I did run out of space however on the deep socket on the adjusting nut so I am either going to have to fabricate something or buy a deeper socket somehow to go over the excess threads.  There is still plenty of threads left to tighten up, just hard to do with the shape of the bracket that merges the two cables to one.   

Maybe I am missing some kind of tube / sleeve that goes between the nut and the merging bracket?

[bill440rt]

Dumb question, but do you have the bracket on backwards?? 
I've always had luck adjusting it using two open end wrenches.

[resq302]

The two "ears" that the cables go through are facing the rear of the car and the place where the nut adjusts to it is in the recessed part of the adapter.

[1969chargerrtse]

My brake holds excellent. Any chance you have semi metallic in the rear? Always go basic pad material in the rear and semi metallic up front.  
I had semi metallic on all four on a Mustang and went right through a red light.  Damn brakes wouldn't stop the car. Put standard shoes in the rear and problem solved.

[440]

Another thing that is probably not the case but worth a mention is a broken cable mount, if the cable housing isn't held tight and can move it wont pull the cable tight.  

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Since you overheated the drums, the shoes might be glazed & overheated as well....did you replace the shoes or use new ones?

[resq302]

Well, my parking brake held nice and tight prior to the hold off valve causing the rear brakes to smoke and "burn".  I have to assume it is an adjustment issue since the shoes were sanded down some to remove the glaze and the drums were machined to remove the glaze on them also.  As for what material they are made out of, I don't remember.  I put them on back in something like 2005 or 2006.

The cable bracket that is welded to the underside of the floor pan is still firmly intact and does not move at all.

IIRC, I think there is about maybe 2" of threads from the end of the rod to where the nut is and then the adapter.  In front of the adapter, there is probably easily another 1 - 1 1/2" of threads still unused.

[440]

Since the rubber plugs on the splash shield melted is it possible the plastic cable guide melted to the cable itself ?

[resq302]

I doublt it.  The cable itself IS moving so that is not the problem.  I am thinking it has to be an adjustment issue since it is grabbing but does not seem to have either enough grip or friction to hold it.  The car is somewhat held back if I put it in first or reverse and try to move the car but the car is able to move and not hunch down like it should with a properly working parking brake.

[resq302]

I guess what I am curious about is how much of the threaded part of the rod should be exposed and how much of the threads should be remaining?  Does my adjustment sound about right or is it too far adjusted meaning there is other issues that I havent found yet?

[bill440rt]

The two "ears" that the cables go through are facing the rear of the car and the place where the nut adjusts to it is in the recessed part of the adapter.

Might be part of the problem. Your bracket is on backwards.
The adjustment nuts should not be in the recessed part of the adapter. Flip it around. 

[resq302]

The two "ears" that the cables go through are facing the rear of the car and the place where the nut adjusts to it is in the recessed part of the adapter.

Might be part of the problem. Your bracket is on backwards.
The adjustment nuts should not be in the recessed part of the adapter. Flip it around. 

Well there ya go!   :lol:It has been like that since I got the car over 10 years ago.  Guess it can be adjusted tight enough to hold until a brake part fails and causes wear on the parts to make it go far enough that you can't get a socket on it!  Looks like it will be an easy fix!