parking brake adjustment

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ShafferNY

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When we took a trip today the rear wheel on the driver's side started smoking pretty bad. I pulled over and took a look at it and it seemed like it was coming from the parking brake. I figured the parking brake has hung up since I had used it the other day.

When I got home I pulled the rotor off that side to inspect the shoes for the parking brake and the liner literally fell right off the pad all in one piece!!! I couldn't believe it. Once I pulled the passenger's side apart the same thing happened. The liners had totally separated from the shoes and fell right out as I took the rotor off and the rotor came right off with no resistance.

I adjusted the shoes to the drum until there was just the slightest bit of drag, but the parking brake handle comes almost all the way up. Prior to taking it apart the parking brake handle would only come up about half way. The factory service manual doesn't indicate that there is another adjustment anywhere, is there?
 

JeepJeepster

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Just to throw this out there, using the parking brake will not cause it to lock up. I use mine everytime the Jeep is parked, its not called a parking brake for no reason. :)

There is a adjustment at the rear drums but it sounds like you made use of that by making sure the wheels turned freely. I take it you replaced the pads for the ebrake? Make sure the rear calipers are ok, Ive already had one lock up at 30k miles.

There is an adjustment for the ebrake handle right in the console itself. Ive gotten to where I can adjust it without taking anything part by using a screw driver and putting it back into the slot where the ebrake pulls up.

I made a pretty nice write-up on how to adjust the parking brake since everyone complains about theirs not working but since the search function ***** on lost Ive not been able to find it. Ill try again though.
 

ShafferNY

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Just to throw this out there, using the parking brake will not cause it to lock up. I use mine everytime the Jeep is parked, its not called a parking brake for no reason.

What I meant by the parking brake locking up is that sometimes rust will form on the inside of the cable sheething and cause the parking brake not to release like it should. Likewise, the cables themselves will sometimes develop corrosion on them and cause them not to release. When you pull up on it the brake is applies but the springs do not have enough force to retract the shoes and they end up dragging. I try to use it all year long to keep everything free.

Most parking brake cables these days come with a plastic coated cable to prevent this. It appears the OEM cables are designed this way.

I'll see if I can find the post you wrote on adjusting the parking brake cable. Thanks. :)
 

ShafferNY

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Sorry to resurrect an old post, but I'm still having trouble.

I've adjusted the parking brake by adjusting the adjusters at the drums until I had the slightest bit of drag on the shoes, then backed them off one or two clicks until I didn't hear them rubbing.

At that point the lever was firm, but it didn't feel like the parking brake was engaging until about half way up. I could pull the handle all the way up to the max and the parking break would just barely grab. At that point I adjusted the parking brake lever according to the link above. Now the lever is very firm and I can only pull it up about ¾ of the way. It holds good at a slight incline, but when I back down the boat launch to dump my boat off the trailer, the parking brake just doesn’t quite hold. It almost does, but not quite.

Tonight I really wrenched on it to try and get it to hold when I was parked in the boat launch, but it didn’t help. I just couldn’t get it to hold. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. The only thing I can come up with is that the shoes are still new and not “conditioned” yet. I don’t know.

Any thoughts?
 

JeepJeepster

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The stock parking brake just is not up to the task of holding a boat, or even a empty boat trailer on a ramp. When its properly adjusted it hardly holds the Jeep on an incline.

Just make sure you alway use the parking brake to relieve most of the pressure on the ****** when you have it in park.

Also, after adjusting the parking brake lever I notice it gets slack back in it after using it for awhile. Ive gotten to where I adjust it with a screw driver through the little flap where the handle pulls up. Works out great and it doesnt take 5 sec to adjust. Ive been thinking about wrapping a cable around that adjustment so that when you let the handle down it automatically adjusts it every time. :D
 
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ShafferNY

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That's how I adjusted it. I put a long flat blade screw drive in the slot for the handle and just put pressure on the tab. It's pretty simple.

I just don't like the idea of putting load on the transmission lock out like that. Every vehicle I've ever had had a good parking brake. I guess it's just the way it was designed.

I'm not crazy about the idea of having shoes inside the hat on the rotor anyway. I've seen many other vehicles like that. I just don't care of it. You would think that having dedicated shoes for the parking brake would make it hold like the dicken's.
 

JeepJeepster

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Our 06 Grand Cherokee has the same set-up for the parking brake and it holds great. I could probably lock the rear tires up if I really wanted to.
 

JeepJeepster

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The 06 Grand Cherokee weighs around 600lbs more than the liberty.

Ive never taken the rear brakes apart on the grand to see why they are so much better. If I had to guess I would say it has to do with the handle itself. It puts more tension on the cable than the handle does in our liberty. :(
 

sailorbowman

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After reading the posted above threads I still have no idea how (if it's even possible) to adjust the emergency/parking break on a 2006 Jeep Liberty. Am I dyslexic?
 

ShafferNY

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Okay, here it goes. This is the best way I've found to adjust the parking brake on the KJ.

First, block the front wheels so the vehicle can't roll. Jack the vehicle up, place it on jack stands and remove the rear wheels, calipers, and rotors.

Next, put the vehicle in neutral so you can spin the rear axle freely. Adjust the rear shoes outward until the rotor just barely slides over the parking brake shoes. There should be no drag when you rotate the rear axle with the rotor in place.

Do this on both sides and then test your parking brake's effectiveness. If necessary, you may have to adjust the parking brake mechanism in the vehicle. I can help explain that if you don't understand Jeepjeepter's instructions.

With my parking brake adjusted properly I can park my KJ on a boat launch with my 14' aluminum boat behind it and it holds!
 

sailorbowman

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This is a KJ discussion, is it not? Wranglers are obviously way different. How I adjusted the parking brake on my KJ was to replace the rear parking brake shoes, pads and rotors and then pull out the plug to acccess the starwheel adjuster. Its quite easy actually. The starwheels were rusted and bound up, but not any more.
 

WickedBruce

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I just made a how-to on replacing all the parking brake hardware. I'd suggest doing that..and then you can just use a flathead screwdriver on the adjuster you get with the kit
 

old youth

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google jk parking brake lever study and see how it works!
 
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badkittystt

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So earlier in this post it was mentioned that a "stock parking brake" can't hold a KJ on a hill, does that mean there is a way to upgrade this? Because the weak parking brake seems to be a very prevalent issue in the KJ's and an upgrade would be pretty sweet.
 

sevenhelmet

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No kidding!!! I was wheeling the other day and really needed my parking brake, but it wouldn't hold the Jeep even on a fairly mild incline. Then once I was back on pavement, it seemed to work fine and the handle felt a lot tighter. My parking brake sort of comes and goes like that- I think I need to tighten something.
 

sailorbowman

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Parking Brake design well thought out

So earlier in this post it was mentioned that a "stock parking brake" can't hold a KJ on a hill, does that mean there is a way to upgrade this? Because the weak parking brake seems to be a very prevalent issue in the KJ's and an upgrade would be pretty sweet.

I can only speak for my own 06 Liberty. The parking break has always performed well, even when one of the shoe sets were totally wasted and only the rear passenger side shoes were hugging the hub.

Imho, It is a clever design using the inside of the hub for the parking brake, and the disc for the normal driving brake. Kudos to the design team.
 

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