Parking brake in forward only

[Barlow]

When I put the praking brake on, stops the truck dead going forward, but whenever I tried it pointing uphill, the truck rolls back down. Any ideas why it would work going one direction, but not the other?

 

[4xcrazy]

I've noticed that with alot of different vehicles...

 

[Big Ray]

Does it need adjusted?


I always adjust mine to where it holds with vehicle in reverse, with me giving a just a bit of pedal.

 

[496truck]

It's the design of the drum brake system. The primary shoe (front) contacts the drum and pushes against the adjuster and then the secondary shoe (rear) which locks against the anchor pin at the top and stops the drum from turning. Theoretically this should work in reverse motion, but the primary shoe surface is smaller and doesn't provide enough stopping force in reverse. You can try adjusting the rear brakes, which it sounds like you need to anyway, and this may help with the park brake in reverse. But they never liked to function that well facing uphill.

 

[Barlow]

Thanks for all the replies. I have the pedal adjusted so I only have about half the travel until it locks up. I've tried the backing up and slamming the brake to try the "self adjusting" thing with no effect. Guess I'll pop the plug off the back and try manually cranking it.

 

[K5dreamer]

parking brake shoes may be worn out. they do need to be replaced from time to time. also, they may be "glazed", try taking apart the drum, and using an emerty cloth to ruff the surface of the parking brake shoes and drum surface.

 

[Fordum]

What year and make truck?
The newer ones have separate parking brakes from the regular rear brakes.

 

[Barlow]

It's a 75 K5. I did my first drum brake job, (with supervision) last year and everything seemed fine until I bought my winch and decided to try the parking brake out just incase I need to use the winch. As long as it stops the truck from going forward I should be OK, I'm just one of those that likes everything to work the way it's supposed to.

 

[blaznjon]

Make sure you back the emergency brake adjustment off first,then adjust rear brakes then adjust emergency brake in that order.

 

[Stomis]

It's a 75 K5. I did my first drum brake job, (with supervision) last year and everything seemed fine until I bought my winch and decided to try the parking brake out just incase I need to use the winch. As long as it stops the truck from going forward I should be OK, I'm just one of those that likes everything to work the way it's supposed to.

You should never rely on the parking brake to hold you put when winching !

Tcase low, first gear, truck off.