Does anyone have recent experience in adjusting the Ebrake to hold tightly?

I just had the rear pads changed to Hawk HPS pads to match the front pads, and the Ebrake needs some serious adjusting now. But my car has never really been able to completely lock the rear wheels when staging and warming up tires at the strip. There was always creepage even with the handle raised all the way.

I staged against a turbocharged Honda once where the Honda was smoking his tires and pulled his car out of the water box with the rear wheels completely locked and skidding. I want that kind of rear-wheel brake.

Rotors, calipers, and now pads (again) have been replaced and I still have major creepage.

 

hope this isnt too far off topic

it would be good to get this sorted. maybe the strength of the ebrake is different from car to car, no idea. but i have to pull mine all the way up, and pop the clutch around 4500-5000 rpms. if there is the right amount of water on the track i get to spinning ok, still not as good at the burnout as i would like to be. but i have found with the right amount of water and the ebrake locked up all the way i can spin the front tires without dragging off past the xmas tree.

last weekend there wasnt enough water at all and the car just wanted to leap and pull forward dragging me along with it and i couldnt get a good burnout. also im still trying to get used to turning the wheel to get both wheels spinning with our one leggers.

im sure someone will post up on how to tighten that up, maybe i can find my old haynes manual and have a look.

 

I've got that manual and it shows how to take off the console (top plate and four console screws) and adjust a locknut that apparently sets the tension on the cable that goes to the rear calipers.

I need to go beyond that and get much more pressure on the pads when the handle is yanked up. I need the rear brakes to hold HARD and lock the rear wheels - I guess I should be able to roll down the street, yank up the handle, and lock the rears and slide to a halt.

??? So what really happens when you pull up on the handle? Is there a cam that pushes the pads? The Haynes manual seemed vague about that part.

Does anyone have an *zz-grabbin' Ebrake in their car, that can lock the rear wheels and hold 'em? Can this brake ever work that well?
???

 

My ebrake used to lock the wheels hard at full engagement, as in if I was just driving and yanked it, assuming the car stayed straight it would just drag the rear tires fully locked. Also led to good burnouts (not on the track but that's a different matter).

After I replaced the rear pads/rotors, it won't lock them anymore... If I put it in gear and give it throttle, the rear wheels turn (albeit very slowly). Before it would just drag em.

 

do you know for a fact that you're not just dragging them?

 

Yep, I can hear the brakes actually groan when I start moving, and I've kinda hung out the window and saw them roll.

 

For me, it's really easy to lock the rear tires. If I am cruising down the road at 30mph and I yank the ebrake, the rear tires will lock up instantly.

At the track, it doesn't take much to lock the rear skinnies anyway. So I better be spinning my slicks really fast.

All I can say is adjust the ebrake cable as tight as it will go. If it still doesn't lock, then I don't know what else to say. You have good pads. I dunno.

 

Yes, this was ..irritating... and now it's worse, post-pad. This weekend I'll try to follow the manual and set the cables much tighter.

If that doesn't work, I'll get a broomstick to run through the spokes of the rear wheels.

 

Haha! Not a bad idea! Get a friend to stick a metal pipe in your wheels. Do your burnout, then have it removed.

I've felt a lot of loose ebrakes. My 1990 Stanza has a really loose ebrake for the rear drums. It's so loose that I am able to pull the handle ALL the way up without it feeling tight. All I have to do is get in there and tighten it, but I'm too lazy. I paid $100 for the car.

On my Maxima, if I pull the ebrake as hard as I can, I can't raise it half as much as my Stanza. The rear brakes are fully engaged with the handle being pulled about 3 inches up. Just don't adjust it so tight that the rear brakes are engaged during normal driving. You want it very close, but not partially engaged while driving.

 

Are you familiar with the mechanical part of the Ebrake? Like what really happens when you pull up the handle?

Or I could look in manuals for photos, but hey, I can ask.

 

It's a physical cable just like the handle brakes on a bicycle. If the cable is loose, then it can't manually force the brake caliper piston to move enough in order to grip the pads.

Remove the center console and expose the ebrake assembly. You should see an adjustment nut at the base of the ebrake handle. Tighten this nut until the ebrake handle is tight with only about 3 or 4 inches of upward movement.

I just checked my FSM and for my 92 Maxima, it says adjustment it so it's tight in 8-10 notches. Meaning, it should be tight in 8-10 clicks.

I just went outside to double check my setup and with about 40 pounds of force, I get only 10 clicks. I'd say that 8 clicks is what I usually tighten it to and that can easily lock up the wheels while the car is rolling.

So check how many clicks you get out of the ebrake before you consider it tight. If I really pull the handle as hard as I can, I can probably only get about 12-13 clicks out of it. But that's very excessive even when parking on a steep hill. 10 clicks is more than enough for me.

I just checked the 99 Maxima FSM and it says with 44lbs of force, you should get 10-11 clicks.

 

Looking at the 99 FSM, the console cable becomes two cables on the way to the rear, and it looks like there is a cam on each caliper that is pulled and rotated by the cable movement.

What isn't clear is what happens at the caliper. If the cam is somehow rotated when the cable is pulled tight, does something push the caliper's piston against the brake pad? maybe from the back side of the piston?

Something else for the weekend.....

 

I believe it pushes the piston from the backside. But I've never taken the rear caliper apart to look at it. I know it's a VERY simple concept. I'm just not sure.

But yeah, the cable splits off into two cables from the handle. At the handle you only have one adjustment screw. If you are getting more than 12 clicks, then you can tighten it up some and see how it does.

 

take the rear passengers wheel off. if your looking at the caliper on that side u will see the ebrake cable going to the back side of the caliper there are 2 nuts on the end of the cable one that holds the cable there and one to adjust it adjust it a lil at a time checking it with the wheel on. after u adjust it trying spinning the rotor with the ebrake down the rotor should spin a lil but bot freely. if you do that thnen the ebrake should grab faster and stronger. you will also get better braking response.

 

Wow -thanks for the clear instructions and explanation - I'll yank off a rear wheel and take a look, but what you wrote makes good sense. When I pull up the handle, I get about the right number of clicks, but the rear brakes just don't hold. I've tried rolling about 30mph and using the handle to apply brakes off and on, hoping to seat the HPS pads better, but that didn't help.

 

Well, I used PB Blaster on the cams and cables, checked lever for tightness, and nothing seems to make it any better. Pulling on the Ebrake lever will slow the car, but not lock the rear wheels.

Guess I'll have to use an axe handle to lock the rears when staging...

 

That is wierd. Do your rear brakes just suck in general? Do they have the ability to lock them up?

If your cable is tight, then it's engaging. The rear calipers have no choice. I don't think they can get siezed bad enough for the ebrake not to work.

What happened when you tightened the cable? You got less clicks out of it, right? If you go crazy and tighten it to say, 5 clicks with 40lbs of force, does it make a difference? I wouldn't leave it overtightened since the rear brakes will be engaged during normal driving.

 

I've got Brembo plain rotors and Hawk HPS pads front and rear. I can stop - really quickly. I can lock them at high speed, but I prefer not to prove it - spinning around on the highway suxs.

The cable is tight, and making it tighter doesn't help. Driving slowly and engaging the Ebrake to scuff the pads doesn't help. There's good travel on the cams that squash the pads against the rotors. The cables are free and move together in the rear - but I can't lock up the rears.

Oh well, it's snowing today, so I think the season is over now. Maybe something will resolve this by spring. Broomsticks are cheap, after all. I'll start doing burnouts that pull you through the start lights, I guess. That's more fun, anyway. Big smoky burnouts.....