adjusting the parking brake on 2008 E450

j-d wrote:
Yes, follow what Bryan (carrinb) said in his first post about the Drum In Hat brakes above.
My opinion - Unless you've dragged those brakes (driven with it ON), you should be able to bring them up with an adjustment.

Yes, I was on my cell and didn't see all the responses. Thanks!

My MH is a 2010 model built on a 08 chassis manufactured in 09... Go figure

Yes, follow what Bryan (carrinb) said in his first post about the Drum In Hat brakes above.
My opinion - Unless you've dragged those brakes (driven with it ON), you should be able to bring them up with an adjustment.

GrumpyandGrandma wrote:

Tom_M wrote:
On my 2005 Ford E450 RV chassis the parking brake is a drum on the back of the transmission. Make sure the lever on the drum is moving when you engage the parking brake. If it does not move, the cable is most likely rusted. If it moves and the brake pedal is not to the floor, you may need brake shoes. The cable at the drum is adjustable.

Same on the 08, it has 4 wheel disc brakes

My manufacturer sticker on the cutaway says 08. I do have 4wheel disc brakes and but no drum behind the transmission. The parking brake cables goes to the brake assembly on the rear wheels. Any suggestions on adjusting or do I need to replace the rear brakes?

carringb wrote:
Starting with the 2008 chassis year, the parking brake moved from the transmission tail-shaft to the rear axle. It is a "drum-in-hat" style like the E350 vans and most midsize and larger cars.

Good to know, but many 08 class "c"s are built on 07 or even late 06 incomplete chassis.

Ours is older - 1999 E350 chassis, but I was having problems with the parking brake pedal hitting the floor, and not holding very well much like the OP.
I found the cable was not in the guide bracket on the frame rail under the cab. Once I put the cable guide in the bracket, it took up the slack. I now have a solid parking brake that engages at about half pedal.

Let us know what you find.

Starting with the 2008 chassis year, the parking brake moved from the transmission tail-shaft to the rear axle. It is a "drum-in-hat" style like the E350 vans and most midsize and larger cars. So while the service brakes are disc, there is a drum inside the discs for the parking brake. Parking brakes (aside from dual-purpose drums) do not self adjust. Instead, there is slot in the dust-shield (inboard) and you use a brake adjuster tool, or bent screwdriver, and turn the star-wheel to adjust the brakes. If can be done on a lift with the wheels on, otherwise you probably need to pull the wheel to access the adjuster.

GrumpyandGrandma wrote:

Tom_M wrote:
On my 2005 Ford E450 RV chassis the parking brake is a drum on the back of the transmission. Make sure the lever on the drum is moving when you engage the parking brake. If it does not move, the cable is most likely rusted. If it moves and the brake pedal is not to the floor, you may need brake shoes. The cable at the drum is adjustable.

Same on the 08, it has 4 wheel disc brakes

Ill check it out today. Is the shoe hard to change out?

Tom_M wrote:
On my 2005 Ford E450 RV chassis the parking brake is a drum on the back of the transmission. Make sure the lever on the drum is moving when you engage the parking brake. If it does not move, the cable is most likely rusted. If it moves and the brake pedal is not to the floor, you may need brake shoes. The cable at the drum is adjustable.

Same on the 08, it has 4 wheel disc brakes

On my 2005 Ford E450 RV chassis the parking brake is a drum on the back of the transmission. Make sure the lever on the drum is moving when you engage the parking brake. If it does not move, the cable is most likely rusted. If it moves and the brake pedal is not to the floor, you may need brake shoes. The cable at the drum is adjustable.

Hi,

If the system is working correctly, you leave the wheels on to make the adjustments.

Back up the RV (or any car with drum brakes) while lightly applying the brakes. If the drum brakes need adjusting, the brakes should tighten up while backing up.

If you do not typically do a lot of backing up, you might need to back up something like 100 feet to adjust them enough. So find a large parking lot - Wal Mart or Home Depot or a empty mall. Lightly give it gas, and lightly apply the brake with the left foot, and go backwards about 50 feet, then forwards a ways to test the brakes. Your tires are about 33" tall, and would travel about 8 feet per revolution, so 50' backwards is about 5 turns, giving at least 4 trys to the automatic adjusters to tighten the brake adjustment screw.

Also if you climb under the RV and look up at the parking brake cable, you might find a slack adjuster. With the RV in park (and engine off) release the parking brake and see if you can adjust that nut by hand. It might have a locking nut that you would need a wrench to separate them, but then adjust by hand a couple of turns. You do not want it to tight, or it might not fully release when you let the brakes off. I would give it a maximum of 4 turns, then try it out. If it is still loose, give it a maximum of 2 more turns (for a total of 6 turns on the rod). Any more and you might be making it so tight that the brakes might stay applied while driving.

Fred.