ok well i got my truck inspected a while ago and it failed because the parking brake was not engaging. the shop told me it probley was the gear in the foot pedle thing was striped and thats why it was not engaging. so i took it home bet on it and sprayed it up with wd 40 and got it to rachet but it still is not holding the truck. any ideas? am i gonna just have to tear the rear drums apart?and if so are there rebuild kits with new springs and that kinda stuff for when i put it back together?

 

anyone

 

pull both rubber plugs off the back of the drums. look into the top one with a flash light and make sure the pads aren't too thin. if they are good then you will need two flat head screw drivers.
jack up the wheel you're messing with and block the front wheels then put the truck in neutral. put a flat head into the bottom hole on the back of the drum and crank on the star wheel. it will only move one way and you'll hear it ratchet when you do it. crank it and spin the tire by hand, when you feel some resistance in the drum from spinning the tire then you'll need to put the second flat head in there and push the arm off the star wheel so that you can spin it back about 1/4 turn.
do that on both wheels and your e-brake and braking overall should be like new.

 

^do that first.

if that doesn't fix it, there is also an adjustment to the parking brake cable. its sort of under the front/middle of the bed. tighten it up.

 

ok thanks for the help i stoped in at autozone today to see about just geting a rebuild kit all new springs and wheel cylinders and adjusment screws and pads but i well give this a shot first

 

definitely check the pad condition and the adjusters first. because that won't take long and you don't have to take the wheels off.

i only replace the springs if they look bad. i had to replace all of them on the passenger side one time because the adjuster backed off enough to fall out and the drum ground it and half of the springs and the pads to dust. lots of fun.

 

id just replace pads and hardware (hardware cost me 15 bucks for both sides)(about 45 for pads)

adjust them properly for if they are not adjusted right they will not hold. and like stated above there is an adjuster for the cable. i believe is under the back of the drivers side door.

Mine is stretched in the rear pretty bad. i adjusted my rear pads, and my e-brake holds now, so pads/adjustment would be the best bet.

 

but there is no need to replace good pads or springs/adjusters if its something simple like the adjusters just being backed off too much.
the adjusters on these trucks aren't the best design and there are a few people that crank on them at every oil change because they don't work that good.

 

ok well i have done all that and still nothing so i guess its on to the brake assambley up front

 

I'm not sure what part of the country you're in, but if it's a salt state, or the truck has been in salt like beach areas, you might want to check and make sure your E-brake cables aren't frozen.
This happened tome on a couple of old Dodges I had back in the day. Salty silt gets up in the cable innards, starts things rusting and...you get the idea.
Try loosening the slack on the wheel cables and see if you can move them by hand, or by attaching a set of vice grips to them and pulling. The cables should move easily and the internal spring inside the drum should snap them back smartly. If there is any binding or mushy feeling that cable is bad. Usually its the drivers side cable.
I have spent hours flushing old cables with every penetrant fluid known to man, only to have the offending cable sieze after the next ran/snow storm. Better to replace them and lube them well with graphite. Also, use your E brake more often...