Hi, I have just renewed the parking brake shoes on my 1999 4WD Blazer. It has the "horseshoe" shaped one-piece rear shoes.
I adjusted the cable according to the Haynes manual & now I have a strange problem. When the vehicle is facing downhill the parking brake holds very firmly & will not even move if I put the transmission in drive & try to move forward. However, when the vehicle is facing uphill the parking brake hardly holds at all even at full application of the lever (I have a floor mounted parking brake between the front seats).
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

go to a level spot and apply the parking brake and the push on the blazer from both directions and see what happens.

 

I have the same problem and did what you say, same problem when pushing backwards.
Someone told me that my reconstructed brake pads may be lacking an eccentricity to lock itself.
Any advice will be highly appreciated...

 

Did you adjust the shoes first then the cable? Or just the cable?

 

Throw away the Haynes manual unless you need to know how to change the oil! The stuff in them is wrong, missing, or outdated, (they're worthless).

This is straight out of the GM "dealer issue" shop manual:

Disconnect the park cables from the levers at each rear wheel. Adjust each star adjuster until the shoe just barely touches the drum when turning the rotor by hand. Re connect the cables. Loosen the equalizer nut and fully release the park brake pedal. Tighten the equalizer nut until the rear wheels will not rotate, (by hand) without using excessive force, in a forward direction. Loosen the equalizer nut until there is little or no drag when the rear wheels are rotated, (by hand) in a forward direction.

 

couldnt agree more. everytime i ever looked in one of those books. i either couldnt find, or it didnt have what i was looking for. only use i ever found for them was the electrical diagrams in the back, if they are even right

 

Mine holds going forward but not in reverse. Its a 2000

 

That's pretty much normal on any vehicle, (disc or drum brakes) except the rear disc equipped vehicles that mechanically move the caliper piston out to apply the park brake.

 

Thanks BlackJimmy, we adjusted the shoes first, then the cable, but I think the cable is not tight enough. I'll try to adjust it again and post back

 

Thanks Captain Hook, we pretty much did this but I'll do it again. How do I get this GM "shop manual" that you mention?