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Hey guys, I just checked my rear brakes on my 03 Cavilier which are drum. The shoes and drum look great with plenty of friction material. However the E-Brake itself is weak. Ive noticed despite almost new pads and rotors upfront Braking overall to me is subpar. I forget how the caviliers brakes self adjust so I tried engaging and disengageing the ebrake and also driving in reverse while using the brakes and I still have a weak E-Brake. If Im rolling and I set it it will slow down the car and stop it but when I apply throttle again the car rolls. Any ideas?
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Did you try adjusting the equalizer on the e-brake cable?
Are the shoes adjusted properly where there is some drag when you place the drum on the hub and trying rotating it?
Eric did a great video on a drum replacement procedure showing how to adjust the shoes as needed.
First you should do a manual adjustment of the rear brakes( would be a good time to also clean them with brake clean and inspect the wheel cylinders ) after you are happy with the rear shoe adjustment check the ebrake again. if still loose the look for an adjustment point for the cable its self between the ebrake lever and rear of the car.
Quoted From dreamer2355:
Did you try adjusting the equalizer on the e-brake cable?
Are the shoes adjusted properly where there is some drag when you place the drum on the hub and trying rotating it?
Eric did a great video on a drum replacement procedure showing how to adjust the shoes as needed.
we must of been posting at the same time lol. great minds always do think alike.
Many times self adjusting drums do not self adjust properly if at all so you might want to try what the GM service manual says to do. Measure the inside diameter of the drum and then adjust the shoes outward until the widest part of the shoes is the same as the inside diameter. Hopefully the drums will adjust better. My ’04 Grand AM SE has about the same rear drum setup and brake adjustment is lacking.
By the way most GM cars stopped using adjustable parking brake cables several generations ago. I know that the final N Bodies do not have adjustable cables and am pretty sure that the final N Bodies did not as well.
Quoted From 619DioFan:
First you should do a manual adjustment of the rear brakes( would be a good time to also clean them with brake clean and inspect the wheel cylinders ) after you are happy with the rear shoe adjustment check the ebrake again. if still loose the look for an adjustment point for the cable its self between the ebrake lever and rear of the car.
This is what I would recommend, you don’t want to adjust the cable until you are sure the rear brakes have been adjusted correctly.
Hey thanks guys, I was thinking I was going to have to do a manual adjustment but not sure which type
Use my drum brake video, in fact it’s on a Cavalier.
Quoted From 619DioFan:Quoted From dreamer2355:
Did you try adjusting the equalizer on the e-brake cable?
Are the shoes adjusted properly where there is some drag when you place the drum on the hub and trying rotating it?
Eric did a great video on a drum replacement procedure showing how to adjust the shoes as needed.
we must of been posting at the same time lol. great minds always do think alike.
Too funny. I looked at our post times too!
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