DIY Needed - adjusting parking brake pull

[Yaristock]

So the handbrake in my 07 Toyota Yaris is very loose. The only way to actually make it work is to pull it all the way, and honestly its not that hard to pull it all the way back. Can someone do a quick DIY to tighten that cable.

[s2man]

I can't vouch for the '07 Yaris, but every car I've worked on had a simple threaded rod and nut to adjust the cable from the brake lever/pedal. Older ones were under the vehicle, where the cable from the lever attaches to another cable going to the rear brakes (easy access, but gets muddy/corroded, and difficult to adjust). Others were the other end of the cable, at the lever (nice and clean, may be difficult to reach). YMMV.

[NoCO2]

In my 2000 Honda Accord there was a removable panel in the bottom of the center arm rest storage bin that when taken out gave you access to the threaded rod and nut so you could adjust the tightness of the cable. I will look to see how it's done on my Camry since it might give you a better idea of where to look.

[jazzie604]

do you know if you have drum brakes on the rear? or use a drum e-brake set-up? could be that the shoes are far enough out of adjustment that you need more than a handle adjustment.

[cfg83]

Yaristock -

Don't know if this will work for you, but I heard that if you go backwards downhill and either hit the brakes or pull the parking brake, that will make the drums "self-adjust".

I heard this from other people who know "car stuff", so I don't know if it will work, especially on newer cars.

CarloSW2

[s2man]

Yaristock, Autozone says you've got rear drum brakes. What cfg83 says is true, though you don't need to be going downhill. I won't go into a technical explanation, but every time you apply the brakes when backing up, they adjust a tiny bit. Usually, backing out of your driveway, or a parking space, daily is enough to keep them adjusted. The only times I've seen drum brakes need adjusting is when the adjuster is all gunked up or corroded; I doubt that's the case on your 2007. But if you're using the hypermiler technique of always finding pull-through parking spaces, and never wasting gas by backing up, they *could* need adjusting . I would suggest finding a safe place, like a side street or parking lot (duh, like you were going to do this on the highway), backing up and applying the brakes 10 or 12 times. Let off the pedal all the way between applications. If they were out of adjustment, that should take care of it.

Man, I think I'm showing my age with drum brake knowledge. It used to be really important when we had front drums. I've even got special tools for adjusting drum brakes without taking off the wheel and drum, they are in with my special points and timing tools . An old drag strip trick was to back off (un-adjust) the pads before racing, to elimiinate every last ounce of drag. Geez, I feel old. I used to throw a tarp over the car in the winter, put a blow dryer under there and start twisting wrenchs. Even froze my leg to a fender once. But my car is in the shop today 'cause I'm less tolerant of discomfort and I have more money.

Boy, I got way off topic there. Good luck, Yaristock.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by s2man

But if you're using the hypermiler technique of always finding pull-through parking spaces, and never wasting gas by backing up, they *could* need adjusting . I would suggest finding a safe place, like a side street or parking lot and applying the brakes 10 or 12 times.

If you're a true hypermiler, you'll find a hill you can do this on, so you can roll backwards with the engine off while doing these start/stop brake applications

[Yaristock]

I have tried the adjustment method, not 10-12 times so I will try that and if it doesn't get better I'll have to tear apart the consul to see if its there, its time for a winter detail anyways. So if I do need to adjust the cable do I adjust with the brake off or how exactly???

[DifferentPointofView]

I'm just wondering, how much does using reverse effect your miles per gallon? I'm not one for ideas, but I've had some bad experiences going backwards downhill and hitting the brakes. It usually ends in the back wheels locking up, and flipping or almost flipping backwards. The golf cart experience was a close one, thank you rear bumper

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by DifferentPointofView

I've had some bad experiences going backwards downhill and hitting the brakes. The golf cart experience was a close one, thank you rear bumper

You mean this was YOU?? ...

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/v/ySBmDl8NK14[/YOUTUBE]