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K3500 dualy parking drum brake fail

OK Guys, we are near the end of this issue, I have learned a lot about parking brakes that I did not actually wish to know! ;-) such as There is no adjustment for the force applied to the rear shoes, totally controlled by the length of the cables, and my 155" wheelbase requires 83 7/16' cable for the left rear drum. The AC Delco one I ended with was 1/8" short of that but it works Fine. The cable is for a crew cab and a cab and chassis (which mine is).
I adjusted the equalizer so when the parking brake is 'on' there is no slack in the cable... but the left side will lock up the drum and slide the tires in the gravel when the parking brake is lightly applied. The right side will not slide the tire ? Is this normal I can not get it to slide no matter what I do with the eq. adjustment.
I posted some pix of the final assembly.
DrumWithRightCable.JPGEqualizer.JPGCouplerLink.JPG
 
I will have to look at mine and see where and how the two cables join each other and connect to the single cable heading to the pedal. I thought there was an adjustment somewhere there to allow it to pull on each cable equally. make sure that both adjusters in bottom of the shoes are adjusted the same, both drums have the same tension or using the same rotational force to turn by hand. that alone can make all the difference.
 
A little more to the story... I did the adjustment one more time on a new day, and guess what? Both tires will lock up solid now! The park brake is officially fixed! Then I was on the way back to the shop to talk about the injectors (different thread) I was on divided highway and a motor home towing a jeep wanted to get on but the traffic was very heavy and tight - so I tapped the brake to give him a spot to enter traffic. Boy did I get a surprise - the entire truck shook - it was like I was going over a very bad washboard and the truck was attempting to turn sideways on the smooth pavement. Then it quit and all was smooth traveling again. ?? Never done that before. So back at the shop for about two weeks - they finally took it for a test drive. They stated the rotors were warped and needed to be replaced with the shoes. Hmmm , I had replaced the rotors one or two years ago - not many miles. So I had my doubts. But I took it home and raised the front end up and found no worpage at all. Then I wiggled the wheel and the pass side had a LOT of play. The bearing was very sloppy. It made no grinding noise like a failing baring does sometimes. Going straight or around a curve no noise. But a new bearing hub fixed it. No slop and all is quiet again. So now back to the injector issue. I will post that thread for info. :) I think this one is done!
 
with a sloppy wheel bearing, that sounds like you might have experienced the so called "death wobble" a sloppy wheel bearing can cause this as well as something loose or sloppy in the steering linkage. be sure to examine all the steering components too!
 
Steak&Eggs said:
Then I was on the way back to the shop
Click to expand...

An INOP parking brake has killed people. Got run over by your own truck is a bad way to go out or be crippled for life. They gave it back to you in this condition. :eek: Then missed a common wheel bearing failure... Sounds like they specialize in gross negligence thus a place that you shouldn't be using anymore.
 
I agree completely! I plan on showing them the loose and missing bolts but I will take care of it myself. I just need to get a set of functioning injectors and redo the top install One Last Time!
 
Well, I noticed above 50 mph when the brakes applied, shook the truck, the faster you go the more the shake. So while going downhill I applied the parking brake - the truck shook. The new rear drums are from china - says so right on them. There is no other noise or symptom but its definitely in the rear. It only happens when the brake is applied - I guess that means the area the shoes contact may be out of round? I will take it back and if they can only get china parts perhaps I will have them put the old drums back on. The old drums are rusty on the outside but there is no noticeable wear where the shoes ride....
 
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