Can't Get E-Brake Shoes to Lock on Passenger Side

[ChibbMD]

Hey folks. Just knocked out my first brake job on the BRZ. Also installed new wheel studs. Everything went fairly well. As I was wrapping up I checked the e-brake.

On the driver's side, everything is perfect. Spins properly when e-brake not engaged. When I engage the e-brake, even halfway, the driver's side rear wheel locks nice and hard. Can't spin it in either direction by hand.

The passenger side is another story. It spins ok when e-brake not engaged, but with the e-brake engaged halfway I can force the wheel to spin. Only if I pull the e-brake to the very top can I get the passenger rear wheel to hold fairly strong.

I've been spinning the star adjuster upward for as long as I can stand it and it never spreads the shoes enough to lock the wheel. Any idea what might be going on? Seems unusual that I can't get the shoes to lock with the adjuster. Thanks for the help.

[Spairo]

Did you remove the rotors when you did the brakes?

Did you take apart the parking brake components at all?

[ChibbMD]

Yes and Yes. I pulled the e-brake shoes off completely on both sides because I needed the extra room to install extended wheel studs. I took pics and didn't have any issues assembling the driver's side which works perfectly. I can certainly pull everything apart and double check things. Any idea what I might look for? Maybe try to adjust the shoes while I can see everything? See what I can see?

[Ohio Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by ChibbMD

Maybe try to adjust the shoes while I can see everything?

Yep. Adjust the passenger side using the toothed screw. The procedure in the service manual is to expand the brake shoes until the disk locks, then contract by 10 notches on the adjuster.

[Spairo]

I would say start with taking the passenger side apart and look for anything obvious. Compare everything to your pictures. If needed, take apart the driver's side to compare.

Specifically, I would check to make sure that you didn't install the adjuster backward, causing it to loosen when you rotate it upwards. You can also work the adjuster while you are looking at it to make sure that it is adjusting normally.

If everything looks right, I would put the rotor on and follow the factory procedure of expanding the adjuster to the point of locking up the rotor. Then back off until the rotor is free, typically 10 clicks.

[ChibbMD]

Well, I took it apart and sure enough the little adjuster had slipped off one of the shoes and was just spinning freely (not tightening or loosening). It probably wasn't seated cleanly when I put things back together. Fixed that and the adjustment went exactly like it was supposed to. Easily tightened until the wheel was locked, then backed it off a couple clicks and worked perfectly!

[Spairo]

Glad that was easy.