How do you tighten the E-brake on a XB???

[JoZUZ]

Mine is pretty loose, doesn't really serve its purpose. How do you tighten it back up so it will hold the vehicle??? :silly: 06' XB

[Driver_Lost]

Rear drum brakes are self adjusting. They adjust when you go in reverse and hit the brakes. The sudden shift of the shoes hits an adjuster type wheel one position.

Sometimes they mess up from water, salt, ext. causing corrosion, and sometime its just from not going backwards enough.

Try going forward and reverse a few times, bumping the brake pedal a little harder then usual, see if that brings up the adjustment.

[JoZUZ]

hokay I will give it a try

[PumaFiveOh]

Driver_Lost wrote: Rear drum brakes are self adjusting. They adjust when you go in reverse and hit the brakes. The sudden shift of the shoes hits an adjuster type wheel one position.

Sometimes they mess up from water, salt, ext. causing corrosion, and sometime its just from not going backwards enough.

Try going forward and reverse a few times, bumping the brake pedal a little harder then usual, see if that brings up the adjustment.

You sure about that?? I need to give that a shot then....cuzz mine is pretty useless as well. I've always had disk rears that needed to be adjusted by the tensioner nut so this is new to me. I hope it works! :)

[bmph8ter]

You can use the adjuster wheel to adjust the rear shoes outward so they contact the drum sooner. That will help a bit with lever travel. I also think you can remove the console and tighten the cable.

[JoZUZ]

K my Box is in the shop so I will try some of these ideas and check back with pics

[surfcitylocal]

Maybe this will help...

[PumaFiveOh]

surfcitylocal wrote: Maybe this will help...



Ohh okay cool, so it is that same as any other car with disk brakes or not. I knew the drive in reverse thing was too good and easy to be true (didn't work). Don't forget to keep going outside and spin the tire to make sure you don't put too much tension on it. Or have a buddy help you while doing it. :)

[Driver_Lost]

It works. But you need to understand. Each time is like winding a watch one click. So basically its like pissing in the ocean if they are really far out of adjustment..

I pulled my rear wheels off just now for this topic. I made the adjustment with no tools. The adjustment resulted in the E brake going from 5 clicks to 3, and my hands getting dirty.

This is a pic of the adjuster mechanism:

I took the palms of my hands and smacked the shoes up on the left, and down on the right. Just like going in reverse. I even herd a click sound.

Now I reversed the smack. Down on the left, up on the right. Just like when you go forward.


If you chose to not get dirty, my first post would of been great. Time consuming, and a little silly looking to the neighbors, but very effective.

[Driver_Lost]

PS Adjusting the E brake cables is not the correct way to repair this.

[CHPRBOX8]

Driver_Lost wrote: It works. But you need to understand. Each time is like winding a watch one click. So basically its like pissing in the ocean if they are really far out of adjustment..

I pulled my rear wheels off just now for this topic. I made the adjustment with no tools. The adjustment resulted in the E brake going from 5 clicks to 3, and my hands getting dirty.

This is a pic of the adjuster mechanism:

I took the palms of my hands and smacked the shoes up on the left, and down on the right. Just like going in reverse. I even herd a click sound.

Now I reversed the smack. Down on the left, up on the right. Just like when you go forward.


If you chose to not get dirty, my first post would of been great. Time consuming, and a little silly looking to the neighbors, but very effective.

Why I come over here to help out to be second guessed, bashed, what ever is beyond me. I see why SciKoTiCs gets more people every day. This place is always run by the top posters, not necessarily the one with the knowledge. Sorry for the rant at the end. I'm going back home now.


rob is a scion god and knows his poop. if i ever asked a question and he responded i would do what he says..........i bow to the master of scion and SciKoTicS :bow: :bow:

[Driver_Lost]

I should of known it would be the love of a brother. :rofl:

Thanks Adam.

[CHPRBOX8]

SciKoTicS need to stick together since that is what family dose

:bow: to the scion god by the name of driver lost aka rob the head of the Sciko's :bow:

[PumaFiveOh]

Driver_Lost wrote: It works. But you need to understand. Each time is like winding a watch one click. So basically its like pissing in the ocean if they are really far out of adjustment..

I pulled my rear wheels off just now for this topic. I made the adjustment with no tools. The adjustment resulted in the E brake going from 5 clicks to 3, and my hands getting dirty.

This is a pic of the adjuster mechanism:

I took the palms of my hands and smacked the shoes up on the left, and down on the right. Just like going in reverse. I even herd a click sound.

Now I reversed the smack. Down on the left, up on the right. Just like when you go forward.


If you chose to not get dirty, my first post would of been great. Time consuming, and a little silly looking to the neighbors, but very effective.

Why I come over here to help out to be second guessed, bashed, what ever is beyond me. I see why SciKoTiCs gets more people every day. This place is always run by the top posters, not necessarily the one with the knowledge. Sorry for the rant at the end. I'm going back home now.

Hey Bro, hope you didn't take any offense to anything I said....but I never flamed, bashed or said you were wrong. Just said that when I personally tried it, I didn't get anywhere. But after your detailed instructions I now see that it would take A LOT more reverse stops if I don't want to pull off the drum.

Anyway, hope you didn't take any offense and thank you for taking the time to explain and help others out. :clap: And I'd be the first to admit I know nothing about drum brakes....but if it's anything turbo, blower or suspension related....I've probably done it at some point! ;)

Thanks again!

[Driver_Lost]

No problem man. :silly: I think I just had a "towing with the xB" flash back. I took my meds now, Sorry about the vent, all is good. :rofl:

[bB2NER]

Hey Rob, how's it going? Thanks for the ebrake info. Mine is still hella tight with only 34K on it and being an auto. I don't think it will ever need adjusting at this point. Take care Bro.

[Stylis]

The right way to adjust that ebrake is just like in the pics. You have to adjust the star on the adjuster screw. I do them all the time here at the shop. I just don't take the wheels off though. I take my stubby flat head screw driver and adjust the star through the hole in the back of the drum. Remove the rubber protector in the back and start adjusting while at the same time rotating the wheel. As soon as you can feel the wheel having some resistance, then you can stop adjusting. And boom, your e-brake is good again.

[bB2NER]

^^^Yep, that's what that hole is for. Good call Stylis

[Driver_Lost]

bB2NER wrote: ^^^Yep, that's what that hole is for. Good call Stylis
You guys may put your stubby in the hole, but I like to see where its going. :silly:

Sorry. :lalala:

Drum breaks are so crude. It doesn't take much water, road grime, salt and corrosion to mess them up. Thats why I like to take the drum off once in awhile, check it all out massage the works. That way you know everything is good in there free to do what it needs to do. Then the self adjusters can do there thing to keep up with ware on the occasional backing up.

[bB2NER]

That works too Rob. I think mine stays adjusted by hitting the brakes hard in reverse tho.