I've had my 2012 Standard Cab Long Bed XLT 5.0 4x4 for about a month now, and I knew the parking brake wasn't holding. Reading this forum I learned about the actuators rusting up, so I crawled under to take a look. On the Driver's side I found one part of the lever hanging from the end of the cable, no longer attached to the truck. (I was hoping the other piece was still properly in place and not flopping around inside the drum.) So I ordered new levers, and since they were scheduled to come today I got the truck up on jackstands and started taking it apart. I got the wheel and caliper off, but when I took the rotor off, there was NOTHING inside it. No shoes, no springs, no retainer clips, and not the other part of the lever. I have found several places selling parking brake hardware kits, which look in the pictures like they have all the parts needed to rebuild the brakes. (Along with a set of shoes.) Does anyone have experience with these kits, and do they really have everything, or will there still be some obscure little part that will be missing?

Thanks,
Dave

 

Rock Auto's kits seem to be complete. We've purchased a couple for various vehicles' drum brakes.

 

What else is missing? Is the brake actuator cable seized? I am guessing the emergency/parking brakes were seized up from non use and previous owner made sure the brakes would no longer drag. I use my parking brake every so often during the week to keep everything loose.

 

Thanks for the replies, I now have the parts on hand. It took 2 stops to get everything, O'Reilly had the shoes and AutoZone had the hardware kit. I could have saved a few bucks either at Rock Auto or Amazon, but it looks like today may be the last dry day for a while, and I don't have the garage cleaned out enough to get the truck in. (The Karmann Ghia convertible barely goes in.) As far as I can tell, the cable is still working, but everything inside the rotor is gone. At least on the driver's side, I haven't taken the other side apart yet, but the cable on that side is still attached.

Dave

 

The parking brake on my '13 wasn't removed but the pedal went straight to the floor and didn't hold. I found the previous owner had brake work done on front and rear - quick and cheap job (pads and rotors). The parking brake levers were frozen in the applied position, wore all the lining off the shoes and ate the rotors on both sides. The rotors were coated and I could read the part numbers on the lip of the rotor. The rear pads were at 50% lining. I replaced everything in on the rear except the backing plates and calipers. I now have 4 clicks on the parking brake pedal and it holds the truck on my inclined driveway. $200 at rockauto with shipping for everything and 2 hours of my time.

Now looking at new brake pads for front (squealing cheap pads there) and a set of spark plugs........

 

OK, it's all done now. It looks like the side that had part of the lever hanging from the cable must have come apart in motion, the hole in the backing plate that it sticks through is messed up, and the grommet won't stay in place. So I may decide to replace the backing plate in the not too distant future. The sun and I both ran out of energy about the time I got it all back together, and I barely had enough daylight and strength to gather up the tools and bring them back in. Had to go out today and adjust them. But I now have parking brakes. They will come in handy if the pandemic ever clears up enough to go visit Mom, who lives on the side of one of the few hills in Illinois. (In the town of Hillsboro, at that.)

 

Ack, that's pretty bad, i guess you can't have a brake problem if you don't have brakes!

I've still got to venture into mine, it works, mostly, but it's sticking for sure and i get occasional squeaking, just can't bring myself to start the job, i hate drum brakes with a passion!