Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts

Parking brake adjustment: Which way to turn adjuster at wheel?

BCB75

BCB75

TJ Enthusiast
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I have the rear jacked up and on stands. Failed inspection because the parking brake didn't hold enough. Handle goes all the way up in the cabin. Anyway...

Just trying to figure out which way to turn the parking brake adjusters at the wheels. One video said clockwise on one side and counter on the other? Another video says to go from the screwdriver being up to being down (blade or handle?). And would that be reversed for the other side? Also, it seems no matter what, there is a slight metallic dragging sound when spinning each wheel. Not sure if that's the parking brake, the brake rotor, or the something in the driveline.
Also, when do I know if I do need to adjust the cable? I know how to do it, but lots of people say not to mess with it, and fix it at the wheel.
 
Don't adjust the cables.
Pull the tires, drums and inspect the pads. Make sure they are ok and figure out what the grinding noise is. Spring(s) etc may have come loose and are lodged between the pad and drum.
You'll see the adjustment sproket at the bottom and the slot to adjust it from axle side when you have the drum/wheel on. You can play with the adjustment when you have the wheel off and see which way pushes the pads out (I don't remember). Adjust it so that you can barely get the drum on. Then adjust it a little more so it will barely spin. Do this on both sides and your pbrake should now be adjusted correctly.
 
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If you're talking about the star wheel on the bottom of the brakes that is not how you adjust the parking brake. That's for getting the shoes in the right position for normal braking. The parking brake cable is adjusted by taking up slack if necessary.

You need to pull the drums and see what's going on in there. You may need to replace the hardware and get it all adjusted properly. That might solve your parking brake issue too.

As for adjusting the star wheel with the drum on, you stick a flat head screwdriver through the hole until it grabs the teeth on the wheel. Then pull up on the handle, so the tip of the screwdriver is moving down. This will push the shoes out towards the drum. If you want to retract the shoes, to get the drum off if it's too tight, you need another screwdriver to push the adjuster lever away from the wheel. Then push down on the handle of the screwdriver that's on the wheel. That will pull the shoes away from the drum.

That is the same exact procedure for both sides. One of the star wheels is threaded backwards, so they both behave the same from your perspective.
 
Last edited:
I have disc brakes in the rear. The little star wheel that you access from the axle side is how the manual says to adjust it.
 
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BCB75 said:
I have disc brakes in the rear. The little star wheel that you access from the axle side is how the manual says to adjust it.
Click to expand...

Oh, ha.

Well it works pretty much the same way, except the directions I gave you (pushing the handle up vs down) may be reversed. And yeah, in your case that mechanism is only for the parking brake.

The real question is how it got out of adjustment. It's not used for braking so there shouldn't be any real wear on them. You may still need to take it apart to see if something is busted.
 
I drove it around the block and was careful not to use the brakes coming in. Turns out the dragging sound was probably just the pads resting on the rotors.
I got the passenger wheel feeling pretty good, but no matter how many times I turn the adjustment on the driver wheel, it doesn't seem to do anything. With the brake engaged, and the vehicle in the air, the passenger side is locked, but the driver side has some play. I think it is only being stopped because the passenger side is locked.
 
Reading more of the manual, it says this system should be self-adjusting. Also, the little service cover for adjusting the brakes was missing on the driver side. Wonder if something got screwed up in there. Not sure I have time to take everything apart before my re-inspection. Might just have to pay for them to figure it out.
 
BCB75 said:
I have disc brakes in the rear. The little star wheel that you access from the axle side is how the manual says to adjust it.
Click to expand...
You can adjust it both from the star wheel and the adjuster on the underside of the body. The one on the underside is good for coarse adjustments and adjustments to both sides simultaneously. The star wheels are primarily for balancing the parking brake side to side.
 
Yeah, the problem I'm having is with the side to side. The driver side won't grab
 
Working on the passenger side. From around 24:15 he explains that the star wheel needs to be pushed up to expand the shoes. Opposite for drivers side (down to expand).
 
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Seriously? The maintenance manual on this site implied that they were the same (basically one would have left handed threads). Ill see if the driver side shows the opposite of what I was doing.
 
I just replaced my my rear brakes and remember the star needing to be pushed up on one side and down on the other to expand the shoes (cannot remember which side). I had the rotor off, so could view the action. It needs further tightening, so will report back - no guarantee when I'll get a chance to do this though.
 
Depends on whether it's designed to auto adjust. If it does, one side will be reverse threaded. If it's only there for manual adjustments that's not necessary, although it seems like it would be better for everyone if they just did it the same way regardless.
 
Finally got around to tightening them...
Left side: Pushing the star wheel down expands the shoes.
Right side: Pushing the star wheel up expands the shoes.

I expanded them until it was difficult to turn the tire, then backed off by 4 notches on the star wheel. Parking brake now holds at 3 clicks.
 
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If you shine a flashlight into the hole you can see the threads and then figure out which way to turn. That's the only way I can figure mine out because I swear it's the opposite of what I'd read. On mine, the threads aren't opposite, but the star wheel /expander is oriented with the threaded stud pointing toward the front on one side and toward the rear on the other.
 
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Here is what the manual says:
1665518095486.jpeg
 

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