FINALLY tracked down my rattle......but

[dpg23]

I'm not sure how to go about fixing it.

I've had an annoying rattle from the left rear wheel every time I go over a bump. After a year and a half, I finally tracked it down. It's coming from the parking brake actuator. It bounces around and makes noise against the brake shoes. The noise goes away if I pull the parking brake up about 3 clicks.

I ordered a new one from the dealer but I'm not sure if that'll fix it. The parking brake cable felt loose also. I could grab it by hand and pull back on it and it moved about a half an inch....do i need a new cable? Is anybody super familiar with the parking brake?

[SHADYB]

Does your parking brake work? Have you adjusted the cables? If you have too much slack in the cable it could allow one of the pins that hold the mechanism together inside the housing to fall out. also if the parking brake shoes are worn they may need to be adjusted. There is a small "spreader" that holds constant tension on the shoes as well. (at the top of the hub assembly) this is easily adjusted with a screwdriver through one of the lug holes on the hub.

[dpg23]

Parking brake works fine. The shoes are worn but the brake lever doesn't pull up excessively. I'm going to replace the shoes, the brake actuator, and I also ordered the parking brake spring kit.

[dpg23]

Well, for anyone concerned or having a similar problem, I replaced the parking brake shoes, all the springs and the parking brake actuator(spreader) and adjusted the shoes properly and my rattle is GONE. :D :D :D :D :D

For anyone trying to track down a rattle, check out the park brake actuator.

[PanamaE30]

What kind of rattle is it? There's one rattle I hear only on expansion joints for bridges that kinda sounds like chains falling. I can't tell if my car has a noise or if the bridges just have some funky design that I only hear in my car :P

[dpg23]

My rattle was like a loud click, but i heard it over EVERY bump.

[Axxe]

Even more fun is when the car sits for two years and the shoes corrode onto the drums. That was fun to pull off. Thank god for the air hammer/chisel.