Cable Rear Brakes. "How to make them work"

Bought Motion Pro Cable and EBC Brakes.
Followed the very first post and they work great.
Thank You Thread Starter
 
On my 98, Im having a problem where it seems like im not getting enough pressure to make a complete stop and at times seems like the calipers are seized onto the rotor... would this cable cure my problem or can it also be my rear caliper is no good? Any help would be appreciated..
After I redid my rear (completely off guess work) It worked awesome but it does stick from time to time. easiest fix I found for that was putting my boot under the pedal and shaking it a few times and it would come loose
 
I'm a new Blaster owner and found this site looking for advice on how to get my rear brakes working and think this thread gave me everything I need....THANKS
 
Sort of a bump to this thread, but I recently acquired a used 95 Blaster for my girlfriend (how these usually go, ;P) and the fronts and rears were shot. So i replaced the fronts with little trouble, now onto the backs. Everyone always rants and yells about how blaster brakes suck, I for one agree.

The guy apparently must have been planning on changing the rears to the shorty cable, cause he gave me a new in bag one along with the sale. So since the original cable had issues, I just swapped the rear cable for the new shorty, and bought new pads for it. Problem is, is that the new pads obviously have about double the pad on them, so thus the caliper doesn't have to be extended as much. Also, the shorty cable seems to be too long for the Blaster (have to basically screw it all the way into the caliper. Should I add a few more keys to the chain and pull the back end out further to compensate or leave it how it is?) But I am not sure if my caliper is broken and will not adjust, or what. Basically, I have about a 1mm leak in the cover of the caliper top when I assemble it all back together with the brakes locked up on the rotor. If I loosen it to about 2mm, then everything works fine, but I obviously can't leave it like that otherwise water will get inside and damage the entire assembly.

My question basically, is how do you know if the caliper can be adjusted, or if it's shot. The plastic piece will not turn and adjust the caliper so that it is shorter or anything (my guess is that while the pads wore down, it self adjusted longer and longer to compensate, and now I can't adjust it so that it's short enough to work with the new pads).

[EDIT]

Following some tinkering, I noticed that the opposite side of the plastic adjuster, that the top rod has threads on it like a bolt. I took some pliers and decided to see if I could remove it, turns out you can and that is what actually adjusts when you turn the plastic cap piece. I lubricated the rod threads up along with inside the rest of the threading, so I could adjust it easier. Worked easier going from this side than the plastic side adjustment (at least if you need to loosen the caliper to back off the brakes, instead of tightening it to put more tension ON the brakes).

Probably would have saved me time if there were any info on this like how to take apart the caliper and such, but word to the wise. If your having trouble with the adjustment of the caliper, that is probably your demon. So, carefully, loosen it like you would a regular bolt (counter-clockwise) and you should have no trouble seeing whether or not your caliper works. The rears work great now.
 
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Does anyone know how to free the moving circular brake pads...mine seems to look like its been pushed unevenly and got stuck... i just can't free it at all.
 
I have repaired several of these set ups and have managed to keep the long parking brake cable also. The OP is correct on everything however missing one important step. You need to make sure the new pad moves slighly freely through the caliper before assembling. Do this with the o'ring on it and a little bit of grease making sure not to get any on the pad surface or the pad wont work. If you do then clean it with some brake cleaner. To get the pad to slide nicely use a grinding wheel or sand paper inside the caliper to remove some of the discoloration which is oxiditation from water and dirt ect... You can also sand the outside of the pad a little to smooth it out. If your pad is tight it will stick or just not work well at all, make sure you take enough but not too much that it falls in and out. You still want it a snug fit. People who say there brakes for a while after rebuild then stopped working again is usually because of the pad getting too tight again. Also make sure the mechanism is well greased.