Parking Brake Adjustment Via the FSM

My parking brake wasn't working and one of the cables looked like a rat chewed through so I replaced them today (the cable was actually working, but it still looked bad)

Anyways I replaced these brakes about 1.5 years and they are still in good shape, but I don't think I ever adjusted the parking brake when I replaced them. Since I put new parking brake cables in today I wanted to adjust them via the FSM. The FSM made NO SENSE at all. Mark 1/4" and wait till they are aligned. Maybe I missed something but it didn't seem like the two would ever line up.

So, I just looked at my Hayne's manual and it basically said keep adjusting till they're tight and the brakes don't drag, which I did.

My question is, can anyone please explain what the hell they were saying in the FSM regarding parking brake adjustment?

no idea on the FSM. i do know that the stock e brake system is a PITA. since your now familiar with the components back there, be sure to properly lube the non"self adjusters." they have the tendancy to not want to adjust and it seems that a good amount of high temp grease on the threads of the self adjuster helps for a little while.

i ended up ditching the stock rear brakes completely and went with ZJ rear disks. MUCH better IMO.

the rear lines should be equal length, right? Then they just go to that T connection that is connected to the big bolt with the nut on it, which goes to the eBrake lever.

Make sure the star adjusters are adjusted properly and then tighten that nut that is on the long bolt connected to the eBrake lever until you have good pull tension on the eBrake lever. Make sure not to overtighten or your brakes will be dragging even when the eBrake is not on!

OH....and the Jeep eBrake is more like a "parking" brake...don't think it would ever save you in a serious emergency!!

I'm guessing that, assuming the brake shoe to drum clearance is correct, that you only need to take 1/4 inch of "slack" out of the cable. From the diagrams in the FSM, it does seem confusing about where to actually make the marks.

Do you have a pic of the tensioner?

By the FSM:
1-Loosen E-Brake cables at the tensioner under the vehicle.
2-adjust brake shoe,s until a slight drag can be heard of felt.
3-Tighten E brake cable at tensioner until 5-7 clicks on the brake handle provide enough force to hold vehicle.
4-Verify that brakes release as required.

This is for a 96 with the tensioner centered at the transmission.Not sure of the procedure on 97 +

Wayne

The 97 says the stuff above with the 1/4".

I marked it at 1/4" and tightened, and tightened, and tightened. It never moved, and doesn't seem like it should. I think/hope I just read the instructions wrong. Can anyone interpret?

Just did this the other day per the FSM. Adjust your brakes (very important this is done first), make sure your parking brake cable is good and loose, pull the parking brake lever all the way up, and then start the process. Make a mark on the tensioner rod 1/4" behind the tensioner bracket as shown in the picture above. Use a 1/2" wrench to tighten the adjusting nut. When it gets good and tight, the rod will slowly begin to pull through the bracket. Once it has pulled through to your 1/4" mark, it's good to go.

I didn't like having to pull the lever all the way up to set the brake so I turned the adjusting nut a couple more turns. I then made sure the brakes didn't drag when the parking brake was released. I guess a good work around for this would be to start out by only pulling the lever to where you want it to end up (instead of all the way up) and then following the above procedure.

Be sure your cable is loose when you start otherwise the rod will have already begun pulling through the bracket and you won't get an accurate measurement.