Hi folks,

I just fixed a busted park brake on the rear-right of my TL. Basically the job was a piece of piss really, but what I though would have just been a broken part (the actuator lever) was actually completely gone!

Obviously Mal knows this and that's why he supplied me the two needed parts - which must go missing all the time - but why on earth do these things fall out of the wheel hub in the first place?! :nuts:

Can you please explain what these parts are - I'm about to change my rear discs to try and get rid of brake shudder and don't want a disaster! I've renewed the front discs/pads so far and still have shudder/shimmy.

Can you please explain what these parts are - I'm about to change my rear discs to try and get rid of brake shudder and don't want a disaster! I've renewed the front discs/pads so far and still have shudder/shimmy.

Don't worry mate - these parts are only related to the handbrake (park brake). If all you're doing is changing discs, you won't go near these parts.

I have the same problem with my car at the moment, rear right is completely gone...all of sudden...so what are the parts that I need?

Don't worry mate - these parts are only related to the handbrake (park brake). If all you're doing is changing discs, you won't go near these parts.

Possibly, but I may have to slacken the handbrake cables off from the handle end to remove the disc which is also the handbrake drum. I've done Commodore ones before and they can be very difficult to remove. Plus when I instal the new discs/drum I will need to adjust the handbrake shoes from the hub end, which is why I'd like to be forewarned of any parts that may 'disappear'.:eek2:

Possibly, but I may have to slacken the handbrake cables off from the handle end to remove the disc which is also the handbrake drum. I've done Commodore ones before and they can be very difficult to remove. Plus when I instal the new discs/drum I will need to adjust the handbrake shoes from the hub end, which is why I'd like to be forewarned of any parts that may 'disappear'.:eek2:

Ah righto. No need to adjust handbrake cables buddy - just disengage the brake. When you remove the wheel, you'll see a small rubber plug near the centre of the disk. Pull this plug out with a small flat bladed screwdriver, and then rotate the disk until the hole which was previously plugged is near the top. Shine a torch in there and you will see what looks like a toothed gear. You spin this with your screwdriver until it bottoms out, and at that point the disk will basically slide right off the wheel hub.

Of course if you spin that gear the wrong way, you'll actually engage the park brake. Each side of the car is different, so if you adjust it down on the right hand side of the car to release it, you will need to adjust it up on the left hand side.

When you put the new disks on, you adjust the gears again right until the point where the disk and hub won't spin anymore, and then back it off until the disk can spin freely. After that, you'll have heaps of adjustment available inside the car under the centre console box. My handbrake lever is now tight as a sexual innuendo about nuns, which is just how I like it (the handbrake, not the nun).

I have the same problem with my car at the moment, rear right is completely gone...all of sudden...so what are the parts that I need?

Really? Wow, it was the same side on my car too.

Here are the part numbers you need (for a TL FWD magna anyway):

Lever-Handbrake: AW350161
Pushrod-Handbrake: AW350166

It's the lever that definitely breaks (and probably falls out onto the road). In my case the pushrod was still in the mechanism thanks to the amount of grease in there so I just cleaned it up and re-used it. I referred to the service manual for all the work - not sure if I would have had the balls to tackle it without that. All told the job took me about three hours, and that was having to look after three small children on and off as their mum went shopping and stuff.

Tools needed are:

- A 15mm socket for the brake caliper bolts
- An 8mm socket for the park brake show retainer spring
- A very strong arm to get the caliper bolts off
- A torque wrench that can go up to 55Nm
- Some thread locker/Loctite (you don't want your brake calipers falling off now, do you?

I believe the brake caliper bolts are 55Nm. These are the bolts holding the caliper to the suspension - not the ones that hold the caliper together.

I have these in stock, will put them up in the store in hte next few days so you all can get hold of the new ones lol

One thing though, you do not need to take off the wheel hub and I would not recommend taking off the wheel hub unless you really need to

One thing though, you do not need to take off the wheel hub and I would not recommend taking off the wheel hub unless you really need to

Yeah, you're right! Once you get the disk off, as long as you can drop the shoe to the point where you can remove the pistons that's all you need because you can just poke the lever in from behind the hub. Makes so much sense in hindsight.

So in consideration of Mal's expertise, the job is basically:

1. Loosen wheel nuts
2. Jack up car
3. Remove wheel
4. Remove caliper bolts
5. Secure caliper somewhere it won't fall (I zip-tied it to the suspension arm)
6. Remove the rubber plug from the disk
7. Spin the disk untily you can see the handbrake adjuster wheel through the hole
8. Spin the handbrake adjuster wheel with a small flat-bladed screwdriver until the handbrake shoes are completely loose (bottomed out on the adjuster)
9. Tap the brake disk with a rubber hammer to loosen it up, or if you're a gorilla just skip to step 10
10. Remove the brake disk
11. Tap the handbrake shoe gently from the top until it slides down off the handbrake pistons. It should rest on the wheel hub.
12. Remove the handbrake pistons, insert the new pushrod and grease the whole assembly
13. Insert the new handbrake cable lever from behind the wheel hub into the rubber boot, and hook the handbrake cable over the lever
14. Install the handbrake shoe pistons
15. Wiggle the handbrake cable lever to make sure it causes the handbrake shoe pistons to push out
16. Slide the handbrake shoe back up over the pistons. Make sure it goes up all the way and the wheel hub spins freely
17. Install the disk and the rubber plug
18. Spin the handbrake shoe adjuster wheel until the disk will not spin freely, then back it off to the point where the disk will spin freely again
19. Install the brake caliper, putting some loctite on the bolts, and tighten the caliper bolts to 55Nm
20. Put your wheel back on
21. Under the centre console box, adjust the handbrake tension to your liking!

I have these in stock, will put them up in the store in hte next few days so you all can get hold of the new ones lol

One thing though, you do not need to take off the wheel hub and I would not recommend taking off the wheel hub unless you really need to

Thanks Mal, I will be ordering these parts from you soon, but rather than wait for the online store, shoot me a PM with the details, and we can expedite it from there.

Thanks Kaldek.....for a while there I thought it was secret mens' business when I read about the nuns....now it's all clear.

There is another unknown 4th dimension in space...read on....

Well today I tackled the same envious solution as the OP.
I went to U-Pullit to get the necessary parts from another car which was an educational exercise in itself in readiness for the job at hand.
Got home, and took wheel off, took brake caliper off, took disc off....so far so good.
Noticed the handbrake lever at the back was askew...which was unusual, no wonder my lever was loose and flimsy.
Took out the caps to the cylcinder, and to my amazement there was NO PIN...so where did it go, it must have been there at some stage....it didnt evaporate, and it didnt break into a million pieces, being full of grease there would have been evidence of it. And there is no where visible for it to fall out to.
Inserted a new pin. Put everything back together, torqued, and adjusted hand brake, now everything is good...thanks for the OPs write up and the manual it helped.

So where did the original pin go, I hear you ask?

I know there is another 4th dimension of space where the odd socks go to, and therefore I'm certain I'll find a multitude of Magna hand break pins there too...lol

So where did the original pin go, I hear you ask?

Well in my case, the lever was gone but the pin was still there! :nuts:

have seen them with the pin missing before, it can work its way sideways and out of the rubber boot the lever goes into

The AWD is the same system but is upside down if that makes sense, uses the same internal parts

When you think about it, the handbrake system was the most stupid thing that Mits did come up with on these cars

When you think about it, the handbrake system was the most stupid thing that Mits did come up with on these cars

Totally agree. Parts held in place only by the fact that there is tension applied by the handbrake cable and nothing else? In the wheel hub no less? Bizarre.

For anyone interested or contemplating doing this themselves, here is a glimpse of the 5 parts that we are talking about... Parts 2 and 3 in the photo have a tendancy to take a walk

http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt18/gtvi1/Other/IMG_5744.jpg

Yeah, you're right! Once you get the disk off, as long as you can drop the shoe to the point where you can remove the pistons that's all you need because you can just poke the lever in from behind the hub. Makes so much sense in hindsight.

So in consideration of Mal's expertise, the job is basically:

1. Loosen wheel nuts
2. Jack up car
3. Remove wheel
4. Remove caliper bolts
5. Secure caliper somewhere it won't fall (I zip-tied it to the suspension arm)
6. Remove the rubber plug from the disk
7. Spin the disk untily you can see the handbrake adjuster wheel through the hole
8. Spin the handbrake adjuster wheel with a small flat-bladed screwdriver until the handbrake shoes are completely loose (bottomed out on the adjuster)
9. Tap the brake disk with a rubber hammer to loosen it up, or if you're a gorilla just skip to step 10
10. Remove the brake disk
11. Tap the handbrake shoe gently from the top until it slides down off the handbrake pistons. It should rest on the wheel hub.
12. Remove the handbrake pistons, insert the new pushrod and grease the whole assembly
13. Insert the new handbrake cable lever from behind the wheel hub into the rubber boot, and hook the handbrake cable over the lever
14. Install the handbrake shoe pistons
15. Wiggle the handbrake cable lever to make sure it causes the handbrake shoe pistons to push out
16. Slide the handbrake shoe back up over the pistons. Make sure it goes up all the way and the wheel hub spins freely
17. Install the disk and the rubber plug
18. Spin the handbrake shoe adjuster wheel until the disk will not spin freely, then back it off to the point where the disk will spin freely again
19. Install the brake caliper, putting some loctite on the bolts, and tighten the caliper bolts to 55Nm
20. Put your wheel back on
21. Under the centre console box, adjust the handbrake tension to your liking!



excellent, thank you for this comprehensive how-to

HOLY BUMP-SKI. (It's relevant I promise).

Regarding the Boot. I need to replace it.

Do I have to take the hub out to remove and replace? Or is there an insider secret/tip?

The Manual seems a bit vague [Parking Brake 36 - Page 1247 PDF Manual] And if so, is it just hub out, drill both rivets (large) pry out, place in - re-rivet?

http://i.snag.gy/bb7X4.jpg

http://i.snag.gy/LoT7L.jpg - I'm guessing I do have to take the hub out then, time to get a slide hammer.

Cheers and sorry for the epic bump.