How do I adjust rear brakes on PT Cruiser to lock up when parking/emergency brake is pulled up?

Question

I have a 2003 PT Cruiser with rear drum brakes (no ABS). I want the rear brakes to lock up when I pull the emergency/parking brake lever all the way up. This seems to be the norm on most cars - I have set the adjuster to where the drums will actually drag a little (probably a little more than you should but not sure) and the lever will still pull all the way up without locking the wheels, at a stand still or while driving. I have a parking break that does not hold - the transmission in park does a better job.

This is also somewhat of a performance issue - I need to be able to do this for evasive driving etc. (Job). Any ideas on upgrading brakes? I have ceramic pads and slotted rotors on the front. Possible to upgrade drum brakes?

Answer 1

There is typically a adjustable "screw" that connects the parking brake cable to the individual cables that go to each rear wheel. This adjustment can be tweaked a little but the idea behind the "parking brake" is this:

There's no such thing as a parking brake. It is in fact an "emergency brake" that the car manufacturers reluctantly install for the sake of a government mandate. The hydraulic brakes can and do fail for a variety of reasons from time to time.
The emergency brake is there in case of a partial or total hydraulic brake failure. It never works as a dead lock up to the rear wheels. It slows the vehicle down, sometimes just barely.

The difference between the brakes on a car or light truck and the brakes on a semi tractor and trailer is that the "air" brakes hold the brakes in the off position as they compress the massive spring that is under extreme pressure. When the pressure from the air is released, the spring pushes the shoes into the drums. The spring pressure is greator than the tire resistance on the road and they can and will "lock" the trailer or tractor tires completely.

You might find a disc brake kit for your car. Try JC Whitney or LMC Truck. There are always after market "fanatic" companies around if a model is popular enough to spark a high performance market.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

There should be some kind of adjustment for the parking brake. Find where the parking brake cable connects to the rear brakes. Then adjust as necessary. Don't fool around with adjusting the "star wheel" inside of the drum. I'm pretty sure that all parking brakes can be adjusted at the cable. Just trace that back. Good luck!!! (evasive driving, etc.????) Have fun dude!