I'm having some emergency brake problems on my 2008 E-150 cargo van. I'm replacing the rotors, pads, calipers and emergency brake shoes. (Ford has the disc brake rotors & calipers with shoes on the inside of the drum for the parking/ emergency brake). The new rotors are a TIGHT fit over the shoes. The brake adjuster is all the way in and I'm having to force the rotor over the shoes. I've triple checked- everything is spec and installed correctly. Thinking about milling off 1/16th inch or so off the end of the shoe where the adjuster is. Any thoughts?
I would double check to make sure the parts you bought are correct. You definitely shouldnt have to mill an entire 16th out of anything. In machining terms that's a ton - something isnt quite right. It's hard to put a finger on the problem without pictures but the drum should go on without milling new parts.
@inthedetails
yes - especially with a van - a lot of the cars I've worked on had different model brakes for different tier packages, soooo you end up with different end's of the e-brake.. i have about 3-4 different e-brakes end's ive ordered incorrectly over the years in my garage... sunfire, buick, civic.... you dont want to mess with machining anything on an e-brake if you dont have to. probably wrong part.
Have you checked the e-brake cable to make sure it is not damaged resulting in it partially pulling the e-brake lever inside the shoe? I've seen something similar in the rust belt where cars get so rusty that the tolerances are out of whack. I would avoid milling parts because they are designed for an intended purpose. Is it possible you got the wrong size drums?
The cables are fully released and the actuator (lever) isn't putting any tension on the shoes.
Drums and shoes are correct other than being new and not worn down like the old ones. Had to free up the actuator levers- they were rusted and fused but fully functional now
Did you buy a completely new adjuster or buy an adjuster repair kit?