240 Difficulty tensioning parking brakes

Hello all

I finally got around to repairing the parking brake in my 91 240. I Installed new rear caliper brake pads, new brake rotors, new parking brake shoes, (old ones were metal-to-metal and ruined the inside of the rotor drum, and also barely worked) and new disk and parking brake hardware. (pins, springs, etc.)

My problem is the exact same as before the replaced components, I can lift the parking brake handle almost all the way up before it actually puts tension on the cables and drums. It is lifted past the maximum of the ratcheting mechanism, so I cannot lock the back wheels without manually holding the handle.

If I crank the adjusting nuts near the handle all they way down, it barely holds the car at the top of the ratchet. They shouldn't need to be that tight, and the handle shouldn't need to rise that high. Have the cables themselves stretched? or is there some gotcha I missed when firing the parts cannon?

thanks,
Ethan

edit) i ordered all the parts from FCP, except for the rotors which came from the local oreilly's. Is it possible the rotors have too big of an internal diameter?

Are there adjusters on the parking brake shoes?

Those need to be adjusted prior to attempting to adjust the cables.

You don't have to adjust both cables individually. There is a bolt(shoud be a 17mm head) for adjustment behind the handle which points backwards and it tightens the whole mechanism at once.

But the best power can be achieved like Dirty Rick said.

Dirty Rick said:

Are there adjusters on the parking brake shoes?

Those need to be adjusted prior to attempting to adjust the cables.

Click to expand...

I did not recall seeing any internal adjuster in the drum. After looking up photos, I definitely did not see this thing, my brake drums had a flat piece of metal with slits in it in the star adjuster's place. is this what I should have been seeing?

Mine looked like this.

Lankku said:

You don't have to adjust both cables individually. There is a bolt(shoud be a 17mm head) for adjustment behind the handle which points backwards and it tightens the whole mechanism at once.

But the best power can be achieved like Dirty Rick said.

Click to expand...

I did not notice that 17mm bolt in the back. I will play with it this weekend and report back

I have always had the same issue on my '90 240, I always figured I could find an adjustable substitute for the flat bar, or maybe cut and weld it to make it longer...

Which models had adjustable shoes? I want to grab a couple and see if they fit.

17mm

I've had about ten 240s and have never seen the starwheel except in the Haynes manual, nor had any trouble fitting brake shoes as long as the cable is relaxed here:

We got crash triangles instead of adjustable rear parking brakes. lol. Must be something overseas models had. I've had a lot of 240s and haven't seen that elusive adjuster yet. But the one on the handbrake handle works well.

BTW if you are instsalling new cables and they don't have the square section like the original Volvo ones. Be sure to use two nuts on the end of the cable so you can lock the end of the cable.