Emergency brake fixed

[lone73]

Just wanted to pass along that I pretty much fixed my emergency brake by tightening the pads against the drum at the wheel and then driving it about 20 miles. The drum apparently scrubbed off the areas of the shoes so that they make continuous contact with the inner drum surface (thats my theory anyway). Now when I set the brake it holds even on a significant slope. Like you expect it to hold.

The reason I did it was to get past an inspection. The guy failed me because the e-brake was so weak. I explained that they all do that... didn't matter to him. I was a little PO'd at him and the car so I went home and tightened it up all the way and figured I'd let it drag all the way back to the shop. Low and behold, by the time I got there the brake worked like a normal car. Couldn't say whether that would work for everyone or not but it worked for me... and has still been working for about the last 2000 miles. I don't even bother putting it in gear anymore when I park it.

justa' fyi...
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[White75]

I hate the emergency brake test. I failed once because of that. Pissed me off something fierce because it failed after a full brake system replacement (didn't do the e-brake though) which caused me to fail one time before that
I bypassed it by finding a nice shop that understood the limitations of the e-brake on vettes (in that half the time they don't work at all) and passes me.

 

[92BlackVette]

My 1976 Corvette I have has barely any HP, so the e-brake test is no problem for me with inspections.

 

[73shark]

I don't even bother putting it in gear anymore when I park it.

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How do you get the key out w/o putting it into reverse or is the cable disconnected?

BTW, it's really a "parking brake". It won't stop you in an emergency unless you have a half mile to stop.

 

[lone73]

How do you get the key out w/o putting it into reverse or is the cable disconnected?

Its disconnected.