Hey guys, I recently bought a 03'350z 6 speed manual Touring and am in love with the car. Am also new to the forums. However, there's one problem... the car needs new parking brake shoes as the car rolls when parked on an incline, unless parked in gear. My only question is, does each rear wheel have only ONE shoe or TWO shoes? Need to know so I could buy the right quantity of shoes off of rockauto. Really want to get this done before the winter comes around. Thanks!!

 

2 shoes per wheel, and you need to park it in gear and pull the brake lever tight. Our E brake sucks

 

lol i figued. Thanks!!

 

Can anyone point me in the direction to DIY parking brake shoe replacement? Or is it easy? I am not a mechanic nor have I done much to my car but I've tried searching and haven't found anything on replacing them. Any help is muchhhh appreciated! Already ordered the shoes!

 

Simple, and you can do one side at a time, then you have an example to look at

 

All of the kits on rockauto should come with all the shoes you need to replace them. You should only have to buy 1 kit.

 

Also, parking with it in gear isn't guaranteed. I've always parked my car in neutral with the parking brake set. My last house had a pretty damn steep driveway. I had to pull the parking brake to the last click but it would hold. 1 click less and it would roll down the hill.

Put it in gear without the parking brake and it would roll down the hill...

My brother's parking brake broke in his F250. Luckily it's the 7.3L, 6sp manual and has a manual shift transfer case. Put it in granny gear and click it into 4 low and it wont roll anywhere no matter how steep the hill.

 

Try adjusting the e-brake before replacing shoes. They wear, but not quickly. Line the rotor up with the hole at 12 o'clock and pop the plug out and you can turn the adjuster. I set it so that with the lever up 4 clicks the rotor won't turn. I haven't found a hill yet that the e-brake won't hold, even with the car in neutral. They do loosen up over the years and require adjustment.

 

\Bought my PB shoes off of rock auto and assumed that quantity of (1) meant one brake shoe. So I entered quantity of (4) and they ship me (16) brakes shoes... lol

 

I would adjust it on the cable first. If you run out of adjustment on the cable, back it back off and adjust at the hubs. That way they stay balanced and it's a lot easier.

 

What technique/tool do you use to turn the ebrake adjuster?

I've done these on other autos and, it wasn't so bad.

On the Z, a flat blade screwdriver seems to slip off more than it turns the adjuster. The whole in the rotor/wheel is just too small and at a bad angle to turn the adjuster.

 

Ive used a flat head every time. Get as wide a flat blade as fits with a short handle (so you have more control) and cross brace it with your other hand. When you have the rotor off practice and visualize the angle, dont forget which way is loose and which is tight.

 

I recently bought my '03 350Z Track and it had the same issue. Adjustment fixed it and now it holds great. Not sure what was adjusted as the dealer did it.

 

Thanks guitman. I'll try again.

I had turned them all the way in when I put new, Stoptech rotors on pretty recently. Somehow, I managed to get one side backed out reasonably and the rotor on. But ended up with the driver's side way too lose. I was waiting, hoping they might self-adjust while backing up with brake applied, like old fashioned drum brakes used to do. But of course, no such luck.

So, it pulled the wheel last weekend for a pm check anyway, and gave the adjuster a shot with a small, flat blade I had handy. It was futile. And, I didn't have time to really try different sizes and techniques of attack.

Like I mentioned in the original post, I was used to doing this on old, American iron with rear drum brakes and that was a cakewalk compared to the Z.