Adjusting Parking Brake Star Wheel

[Injulen]

Hey all, working on my 1995 wagon today and it needed some adjustment to the parking brake operation.

 

I looked in the service manual and it says to expand the shoes you turn the star wheel up and then to contract the shoes you turn it down. The side they are working on in the manual is the driver side.

 

Does everything get reversed for the passenger side or do they use opposite threads so that it is still up = expand and down = contract?

 

Thinking about it in my head, if they use the same parts, you are accessing it on the opposite side so down becomes expand and up becomes contract. Am I wrong?

[1 Lucky Texan]

I can't recall if they are different, but there are arrows on the backplates of our 03 OBW.

[Injulen]

I'm not sure if I can see any arrows with all the rust I have. Thanks for your reply though

 

On another forum I got this response:

 

"I'm pretty sure it's the same on both sides - it was for my 97 Skyline, and it had the same type of system (Subaru/Nissan part swap)."

 

 

I replied to him with:

 

"Thanks. When you buy the hardware kit to replace both the adjusters, are they labeled for left/right? The only way I can think of that would allow it to be the same on both sides is to have one side use reverse threads."

[CoupedUpSubie]

I'm guessing your using a brake spoon or bent screw driver. Honestly I can never remember either. I have never seen any markings on the adjusters. I want to say they are right hand threads.

[Injulen]

I'm actually using a regular flathead screwdriver. I don't have any problems reaching in there and turning the wheel with it. I'm sure it'd be easier with a brake spoon but oh well xD

[987687]

Old cars (and I mean like 60's and earlier), used left hand brake adjusters on one side.

I've never seen that in a modern car. I've done tons of subaru back brakes and parking brakes. And if one side was left hand thread, it would stick out in my mind as being a pita.

 

So on both sides, turning it in the unthread direction will move the shoes outward.

[Injulen]

So you are saying that if the driver side is up to expand the shoes, the passenger side should be down to expand the shoes?

[987687]

It should be the same on both sides because the adjuster is installed in mirror image on each side.

[1 Lucky Texan]

I would say it isn't mirror image.

 

 

 

 

if there were LH and RH parts, they would be labeled that way (as in other places in diagrams - like suspension parts;

 

http://opposedforces.com/parts/legacy/us_b11/type_30/brake_system/rear_brake/illustration_3/

 

 

HOWEVER, if the adjuster 'assembly' is simply installed facing the opposite way, (say - front to back on the right/back to front on the left) they could both be made to operate in such a way that moving the star wheel upwards will tighten the shoes. This how I would design a system so I had fewer specialized parts.

 

maybe try to take a rubbing with paper and pencil/crayon to see if the arrows are there. But if the system is original, or it was rebuilt and put together correctly, the adjusters should both tighten with upwards adjustment.

 

there's pic in this thread of what appears to be the left rear; http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f68/parking-brake-adjustment-100178/

 

 

 

 

(I'm calling 'inside' meaning working from between the wheels - behind the backing plate OK?)

 

as you can see, moving the star wheel 'nut' upwards from the inside (thru the slot) would expand the distance. Notice the threaded 'stud' portion is facing the front of the car.

 

If, on the other (right side) of the car, the threaded stud part of the assembly were installed facing the rear of the car, then an upwards movement of the star, from inside of the backing plate, will still expand the assembly.

 

 

Of course, I assume that most soobs with this system are built the same way.

Edited August 7, 2012 by 1 Lucky Texan

[Injulen]

In the manual I have it says the star wheel is always installed with the threads towards the front of the vehicle therefore you aren't turning it around and since you are accessing it from the opposite side it should be the opposite turn.

 

 

On the drivers side it is turn the wheel up to expand. This is turning the wheel counterclockwise if viewing from the rear of the vehicle. If you move the star wheel to the passenger side without turning it so the threads are in the rear but keep it so the threads are towards the front like the manual says, you are now accessing the star wheel from the opposite side. If that wheel still needs to spin counter-clockwise to expand then you need to be turning the side of the wheel you can see through the access port down instead of up.

 

 

 

I say that not matter-of-factly but just to explain my own reasoning.

[1-3-2-4]

They are the both the same for each side.. I had to do this year before last changing the rear disc brakes.

 

Also putting the rubber plug back in helps if you lube it with something.

[forester2002s]

There's also an adjustment to the parking-brake lever (under the central console-cover - on some models) http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2779

[1 Lucky Texan]

In the manual I have it says the star wheel is always installed with the threads towards the front of the vehicle therefore you aren't turning it around and since you are accessing it from the opposite side it should be the opposite turn.

 

 

On the drivers side it is turn the wheel up to expand. This is turning the wheel counterclockwise if viewing from the rear of the vehicle. If you move the star wheel to the passenger side without turning it so the threads are in the rear but keep it so the threads are towards the front like the manual says, you are now accessing the star wheel from the opposite side. If that wheel still needs to spin counter-clockwise to expand then you need to be turning the side of the wheel you can see through the access port down instead of up.

 

 

 

 

 

I say that not matter-of-factly but just to explain my own reasoning.

 

hmmm, if that's what the manual says, then you are correct.

 

hell, I think I'll just take a flashlight and a rag and see what the arrows look like on my wife's car - BRB

 

 

back!

 

obvious and without doubt, embossed arrows at the side of the adjustment slots BOTH point UP on my wife's 03 H6 OBW.

 

(got my shirt dirty - dang!)

Edited August 8, 2012 by 1 Lucky Texan

[Injulen]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm going to mess with the adjustment tomorrow at some point. I'll let you know what I find.

[1 Lucky Texan]

looked at some pics of hardware kits for the rear tiny drum parking brakes for a '95. By zooming in (ctrl +) it seems fairly clear there are no left-hand thread adjusters or parts.

 

And I see no reason the assembly can't be installed 'reversed' from the other side. There's no advantage to creating a left-hand and right hand assembly. You'd have to remember which goes where. Just as easy to install the same assembly reversed and fewer 'special' parts.

 

So, I'm calling any manual for a soob after about 1994 that says the 'stud' must be installed the same way is likely wrong(for the parking brakes in the disc rotor system)

 

Again, other, older, year models may be different. And for models with rear DRUM brakes , there ARE LH and RH parts as shown at opposed forces (see below)

 

interesting.

 

 

Legacy Oct. '93 to '99 tiny drum in disc rotor (adjuster is number 19 - no LH or RH shown)

 

 

 

 

 

Rear DRUM brakes (note LH and RH for adjuster)

Edited August 8, 2012 by 1 Lucky Texan

[Injulen]

This is an excerpt from the pdf manual I have for the 1995 legacy. It doesn't have anything about the other side of the vehicle. Just for the sake of it I also included the exploded parts diagram from my manual.

 

 

Edited August 8, 2012 by Injulen

[1 Lucky Texan]

This is an excerpt from the pdf manual I have for the 1995 legacy. It doesn't have anything about the other side of the vehicle. Just for the sake of it I also included the exploded parts diagram from my manual.

 

 

 

 

 

 

yep, for the diagram shown, that allows the adjuster to have a RH thread and be adjusted by pushing up on the star wheel from 'inside' (behind the backing plate)

 

still, that same assembly will work fine on the other side IF the stud faces the rear of the vehicle.

 

ugh - my head hurts.