So I have been getting a lot of noise from my rear brakes. Went to inspect the pads and rotors are discovered that the parking brake is destroyed. Not only is it rusted basically in place, but the backplate is rusted through and some of the retaining pins/springs are missing. So it will not be held in it's proper place. I would need to remove the whole thing and replace the back plate, 100% new stuff. At the moment, I can't get the hub off, which makes doing this near impossible. Also don't have the time right at the moment. So here's my question: Do I need the parking brake for the car to run properly? I appears to basically be a drum brake for the inside of the rotor. I'd imagine that removing the shoes and overall apparatus would not negatively impact the functioning of the car or the rear brakes, with the exception that I would no longer have a parking/emergency brake. Is this correct? It would be temporary, of course. The only thing that hasn't come out is the latch that attaches to the parking brake cable. I plan to cut it out tomorrow night.

Thank you

 

To remove the rear hub, it's actually the brake drum, you need to pound the outer circumference of the drum with a BIG hammer. Keep rotating the hub while you hit it. It will eventually come loose so that you can then pull it off to reveal all the innards. You will then be able to remove all the loose bits and pieces easily and then re-assemble. I don't think this will affect the way the vehicle drives.

 

Thank you. To be clear, I have 4 wheel disc brakes, so I don't have drums in the rear. The parking brake shoes are located inside the "high hat" of the read rotors. The hardware is located behind the hub itself, which I would need to remove to install new parking brake hardware and a replacement brake backing plate (which is what's rusted out). But I appreciate your reply. I also think it won't affect my ability to drive, but I don't want to learn the hard way I was forgetting something important.

 

Yes you do have 4 wheel disc brakes and yes you also have drums in the rear. The 'parking brake' uses brake shoes which are located inside the 'drum' section which is part of the rotor.

 

Lookie and don't forget the best money you ever wasted on these.

 

In the UK at least, you must have a HAND-brake AND a foot brake. The hand brake must have at least 18% efficiency. The MOT tester specifically checks the hand-brake during his tests. Just because with an auto-box you have a device which jams the auto-box when selecting "P" therefore stopping the vehicle from moving at all unless the rear wheels skid - is no excuse for not having a working separate hand brake. On G.V. the rear are disc AND drum in one iron casting, I first came across this idea with a Mercedes I had many years back.
Of course, most countries will nowadays have a test of brakes, usually every year. Many of these disc-drum brakes are not particularly good on hand-brake efficiency.
Leedsman.

 

AlanC, I was clarifying the point because some minivans do have rear drum brakes. The one I have technically has "drum in hat" rotors/disc brakes. But the reason I was being more specific was that your reply indicated you could remove the brake shoes and hardware by removing the drum. Perhaps that's true in cars that have rear drum brakes, I don't know. But in the model I have the parking brakes shoes and hardware are located behind the wheel hub. So you cannot access it for removal without removing the rotor AND the hub. I actually cut out my parking brake lever with a cutoff wheel to save the time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to argue with you for the sake of arguing. I'm only clarifying so that someone in my situation doesn't come along and read this and get confused. I rely a lot on repair forums for my cars, so I like to make sure the info I post is as clear as I can make it for others who do the same. That's all.

 

I thought I had clarified the point, it's just that you Americans and Canadians speak a different language to us.

 

From a fellow USA member, Don't know where you are located in the USA. BUT if you are in a high rust area like the Northeast like I am near Buffalo,NY, the job to do is not a simple unbolt and replace.
The rear caliper must be dismounted, the rotor taken off(usually with a lot of heavy hammering that ruins the rotor), the rear axle bearing assembly must be removed(not fun for the 4 bolts to access), and usually ruins them also. On paper this sounds like an easy job, but in real world(with age and RUST), can be rather hard to accomplish!
I recently replaced rear parking shoes and ALL hardware and cables along with new rotors and pads. Go to rockauto.com as they carry all the parts you will need and at good prices(right down to the parking brake arm that you cut off).

 

UPDATE: To answer my original question; I have removed the parking/emergency brake hardware from both rear wheels and the car drives and brakes without issue.

I am aware of the work that goes in to replacing the parking brake hardware, which is why I didn't want to do it. The two lower bolts for the hub are almost completely inaccessible, and I'm fairly confident I will round them in the process of getting them out. Having removed the hubs on all four of the wheels of a different car, I do not have great confidence that the hub will come out without me possibly destroying it. I bet the rust has that stuck in there like nobody's business. I did confirm that the rust is an issue on the brake backing plate on the other side as well, and while it hasn't fallen apart quite as much, it would need to be replaced also. Cost of those things are ridiculous, (priced ~$200 for plates+hardware at rockauto), so I'm just going to leave things be at the moment and maybe make installing a new parking brake a job for when I have nothing better to do.