How to adjust parking brake travel on a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan - the dealership is trying to sell a 350 dollar ratchet but the ratchet works fine - suspect stretched cables - can cables be adjusted?

Answer 1

If the parking brakes don't function, it's either the braking mechanism at the rear wheels or the cable system that applies them. At the rear wheels you might have either drum brakes or disk brakes with a mini drum brake as a parking brake.

The cable system is self-adjusting. It has a clock-spring mechanism at the parking brake cable that should supply enough tension to keep the cables taut without applying the brakes.

If the cables are slack then the brake pedal will go to the floor without pressing the pads onto the drum and, when released, can even push the cable-end off the hook at the wheel.

If the cables have been checked and function properly, but are not sufficiently/correctly tensioned, then replacing the ratcheting pedal mechanism also replaces the self adjuster.

Sometimes, depending on make and model, you can look at the inside of the rear wheel area from just about under the car without raising the car and taking off the wheel, to see if the cables are pulling the levers when an assistant steps on the pedal. You might see the cable-end move, disengaged from the lever, but it may be difficult to see if it is moving enough to pull the lever tight. If there's a lot of engaged travel but no braking, then the cable system is functioning correctly but the brake mechanism at the rear wheel itself needs some service; but, as you didn't mention whether it has rear disk or rear drum brakes, it's difficult to be specific.

Rear drum brakes are self adjusting: applying the brakes firmly when backing up a few times should do that. It's hard to imagine the main drum brakes being good and the cable system being good and not having the parking brake work.

If you have rear disk brakes, the parking brake is a mini drum brake only used for parking and that's a brake that isn't self adjusting: you have to do it manually. The adjuster is accessed through a rubber-plugged slot at the bottom inboard side. If the vehicle is AWD you have to pass the adjuster tool through 2 holes in the rear axle carrier, or take the rotor off and do it by measurement, or trial and error.