parking brake adjust?

[bradjh]

is their an adjustment for the parking brake. Or do i just need to replace the brake pads? Brad

[HenryJ]

Yes there is.
Emergency brake adjustment

You will need to remove the rear wheels, brake calipers, and rotor. The emergency brakes are the shoes inside the rotor hat. There is a small "turnbuckle" screw adjuster to spread them apart.

Now proper adjustment requires a tool for checking the air gap between the drum (rotor hat) and the shoes. It is like a large caliper. (GM# J 2117-A Drum to Brake Shoe Clearance Gauge) KD Tools also makes one. I think it was close to $50, but tools are never a bad investment. Heck that is not even an hours shop rate, and probably less than the minimum charge. The gap should be .026 inch.

OK, now that I have said that That is the procedure for a fullsize and our service manual just says: "adjust parking brake" , No specification, NOTHING

Sheez! Well you do need to disassemble to check the lining any way and see how things work as well as the location of the adjuster (between the contact points of the shoe). Clean it all up with some brake cleaner, or even hose it all off and blow dry if you can.

BTW, a recall for the fullsize just came out to replace a spring clip on the parking brake. This spring was weak and allowed the shoe to move prematurely wearing the lining resulting in the parking brake failing to hold on a hill. This is a NHTSA safety recall. Ours is almost identical and may not be far behind.