WH & XH Parking Brake Replacement

[briteway]

Well, we call it the hand brake, in the US they call it the emergency brake (or e-brake) and the service manual calls it the parking brake. What do "we" call the one in the new WK's (WK2's), LOL . I've included the XH Commanders, as they use the same parts as the Grands.

Anyway, my hand brake lever was going up all the way and felt pretty weak or loose so I thought I'll adjust the park brake shoes. There's a rubber gromet or a plug at the back of the rotor of the rear wheels, which gives access to the park brake adjuster star wheel which rotates and adjusts the brakes. Fairly simple job if your hand brake lever feels "a bit" loose and not like mine, LOL. See pic below:



And this is what it looks like under the " drum hat":





So I started adjusting them. Released the hand brake and lifted the rear wheels off the ground. The way they get tightened is by inserting a screwdriver through the access hole, slotting it in the star wheel and turning towards the front of the car (yes for both of the wheels, so the right will go clockwise and the left anticlockwise) until there's a feel that they start gripping (you keep checking the rear wheels by trying to turn them with your hand). Once it starts gripping, then go a bit back until you can't feel the pads gripping otherwise they'll wear out. This is when the adjustment is complete.

In my case, it felt like I was turning the star wheel for ages and then all the way to the end and nothing, still loose. So I decided to take the wheels off, the calipers, the drum hat (which is held by a rubber O-ring around the hub) and the pads were shattered to pieces on the rear left side and completely unbonded on the right side:



This is when I thought I might as well do a write-up on replacing the handbrake shoes (or pads), whatever you wanna call it.

RockAuto, as usual, gave me cheapest alternatives. So I got the Omix ones, the third dearest, 8th from the top (or 3rd from the bottom):



And here's a direct link: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...parttype,10177

I got them, as they were the best value for money when taking into consideration shipping. Cost me $80 including delivery. They come in pairs, both right and left wheels. Got here in 5 days.

[briteway]

How did this happen? How did they shatter or get unbonded? Well... ... when I was four wheeling, out of excitement, I forgot to release the hand brake... ... only realised it when I was gonna park the Jeep again .

Shit happens!

[briteway]

So when the goodies arrived, I went off to replace them:



When the drum hat is first removed, with long-nose pliers remove the smaller spring, the one next to the adjuster and then remove the adjuster:



Then remove the other larger spring on the other side next to the actuator lever:



Then remove the top and bottom hold-down spring clips. They have a slot through them and are held by a pin:



Push down and hold the clip, then slide it until the pin fits into the larger notch, remove the clip and pin. Don't lose the pin. It took me ages to find it, .

Then remove the actuator lever and remove the old shoes.

Get the new shoes and put everything back in the reverse order. When you reach the part where you have to put the drum hat back on, this is the perfect time to adjust the shoes, as it's easier than trying to do it with the screwdriver through the adjustment access hole. So, if you've taken the access hole rubber plug out, put it back in now and make sure it sits in correctly. Adjust the star wheel on the adjuster and keep doing so until it just touches the drum hat cover and then go back a few notches until it just clears it. Put the drum hat back and reassemble the caliper and wheel.

When everything's done, your handbrake will come back to normal or better than it was. You should get maximum of 3 clicks at the hand brake lever for brand new shoes. Obviously, the clicks will increase as the pads wear out.

I hope this write-up helps someone else and saves them a few $$$ when they do theirs, either adjustment or replacement.

[patience]

Great write-up briteway, thanks for the info.

[warod]

Aaaah mate !

Excellent write-up.....5 stars dished out.

P.S. In Western Australia, when we refer to the handbrake we are of course, referring to "the Missus" ?

[warod]

My wife complained of a intermittent "clacking noise" coming from the rear wheel of the WH. I could not find the source of this sound until I removed the rear rotors....
Just as Briteway had discovered with his vehicle, my WH's parking brake linings had also disbonded !!

I measured the rotor thickness and decided to replace all of them because a 1mm skim would see them drop under the minimum tolerance.

Ordered Raybestos parking brake shoes and hardware from Rockauto (good price) and sourced a full set (front & rear) RDA slotted rotors from Rapid RS in Pakenham, Victoria, $420.00 the lot ! (G3000 standard pearlitic castings, nicely CNC machined), insignificant runout measured when installed.

All parts arrived OK, slapped everything together with a new set of rotor pads - Akebono Premium Ultra Ceramics all round...(Rockauto again).

The unusual observation was that; the disbonded park brake linings that I removed showed very little wear and were actually thicker than the new Raybestos shoes I installed. Maybe the previous owner had them "re-lined" locally and paid for a dodgy bonding job? Or worse (and more likely) maybe a dealer did this ??



Who knows for sure,

[aussie453]

Thank You this was most helpful