E-brake shoe replacement? *answered* thank you Kris

[rwh11385]

My e-brake sucks and needs adjustment, but I believe they shoes need replacement as well.
Short of a complete rebuild process like Brandon (Beej), can one just replace the shoes and adjust the ebrake. And what about total cost, etc?

TIA

[bimmerphile]

a set of 4 shoes + the little springs is about $40 IIRC

pull the wheel off, undo the caliper bracket, pull off the rotor, then start taking it apart.

It's pretty straightforward, and assuming your lines arent frayed/corroded then pretty quick too. 2 hours, max.

[rwh11385]

sweet, $40 can fit in my budget so I don't have to worry about rolling down an incline.

and sounds easily enough.....wish I got the chance to rebuild drum brakes in auto mechanics though in HS.

[Spaz]

sweet, $40 can fit in my budget so I don't have to worry about rolling down an incline.

and sounds easily enough.....wish I got the chance to rebuild drum brakes in auto mechanics though in HS.

you can't even call these drum brakes they are so easy to do....

make sure you lube the spreader(lack of a better word right now...busy studing)they are very common to seize up.

:)

[rwh11385]

well, even if not the same, rebuilding a drum brake would help not fuck up these shoes/springs.

but alas, I was in the engines section. :twisted: hehehe, got to rebuild this 4cyl instead of messing with brakes

[atmh]

that is all assuming you don't have to replace the backing plate. If you have to replace the backing plate then it is sort of a pain in the ass. The backing plates are only about $30 total, but you have to disconnect the calipers and take off the hub. Basically to do that goes like this:

Take out the lock thing on the hub nut (using a combination of a hammer, needle nose pliers, and a screwdriver) and losten the hub nut with the car on the ground (requires a lot of torque) Then jack the car back up and finish taking the nut off. Put two large pry bars behind the hub and just kinda pry/wiggle it out. It will take a while, but it will eventually come. It might help to pound the center bolt with a punch/hammer to persuade it a little more. After you get the hub out, put a clean rag or something in there so dirt doesnt get on the bearings. Losten the brake line with vice grips and a wrench (14mm I think? possibly 13mm) Assuming you don't break the brake line, you shouldnt have to replace it. If you haven't already, then take off the brake shoes/whatever and take out the 4 bolts that hold the backing plate in place. Have your new backing plate right there ready to put on. Disconnect the brake line completely and quickly take the old backing plate out. Put the new backing plate on and get the brake line hooked up as fast as possible so you don't lose a lot of brake fluid. If were careful and didn't drain any fluid out of the caliper line, then you won't have to bleed the brakes, otherwise you will. put the backing plate on and put the e-brake on. I would recommend putting the e-brake shoes on before putting the hub back on, its easier that way. Don't forget to lube the moving parts with antisieze lubricant, try not to get it on the brake shoes themselves though. Put the hub back on by pushing it on the spindle. I woudl recommend greasing the bearings while the hub is off as well. I used liqui-moly, which you can get at the local parts store, if you can't find it, then just look for some bearing grease, prefferably with Molybedium (or however its spelled.) The hub goes on pretty easy, push/hammer it on (lightly) until you can get the nut started, then just turn the nut on until it is tight. It will get tight at first, but then the bearings will "pop" into their channel, and it will get easy for about one more turn, then it will tighten up again. You will know when it is where it is supposed to be, because it will tighen up quickly. Don't be faked out by the bearings being pressed into place, that is a much more progressive tension. Put everything back together and put the wheel on. Tighten the nut by putting a large wrench on it while its on the ground. I think it requires something like 200ft/lb torque, I just put it on the same way I took it off; by standing on the end of my large wrench.

But maybe you won't need to replace the backing plates, its your call. It all depends on how rusty they are, and you probably won't find that out until you get the e-brake shoes off. I painted my new ones so they wouldn't rust as quickly, also I greased the area where the e-brake pins hook in so they wont rust. Rust is the devil.