changed rear brake pads, now car won't move
 

I did some searching and I realize it's *probably* the drum shoes. I'm curious to why changing the brade pads would've made the shoes lock the drums up?

I have eradispeed drilled and slotted rotors FTR, so if this is a possible cause please chime in.

In some drum brakes there is a ratcheting mechanism that automatically moves the pads radially outwards. During re assembly did you test to see if the assembly moved freely while in the air?

When you pull the parking brake handle does if feel "normal"?

Indeed, I tried turning the drum while it was in the air but then I realized I only jacked one side up at a time, instead of the entire rear end so one wheel was touching the ground therefore didn't think anything of it that I couldn't turn it. The parking brake seems normal.

So, just to confirm, you ONLY changed out the pads right? Not the rotor? I can't see how the e-brake shoes would have any effect at all. You can't get to them without removing the rotor. Something else is probably wrong.

Can you provide more details as to your problem? You say the car won't move, but what is actually happening? Is the engine just free-revving in gear? Or is it bogging down like it's actually stuck? Can you jack the car up and spin all of the wheels freely?

Edit: if you really think it is the ebrake, try looking at the backside of the brakes (facing the inside of the car). Look at the lever sticking out from the bottom of the knuckle, where the ebrake cable connects to it. Compare the lever's position from when you pull the ebrake and from when you release it, maybe it's bound up and not releasing the ebrake somehow? Even then you can usually move the car with the ebrake on, the engine can fairly easily overpower it. That's how some people drive around with the ebrake on by accident.

Dope

Correct, I only changed out the pads:

1 popped off two rear wheels
2 took the two bolts out of each calipers
3 removed 2 old pads each side
4 opened the brake reservoir cap
5 compressed the calipers using correct tool
6 put reservoir cap back on
7 put 2 new pads each in with shim and grease
8 put calipers and 2 bolts back on each
9 wheels back on
10 removed wheel chocks and jack

I didn't remove the rotor. I didn't change out the rotor.

So it's stuck such that trying to go in either reverse or forward, the rear wheels do not want to turn. I really have to give it some gas to get it to move a meager inch or two, as you say like it's really bogged down. I don't want to push my luck cuz it's in the garage I don't want it to suddenly give and throw me through the wall :p Although I've done numerous brake jobs before on my other cars, I haven't seen this problem and its' my first time changing brakes on this car even though I've had it about a decade. Shows how much I drive it, right?

It's definitely the rear brakes holding it from moving. I'll try putting up the entire rear up and see if wheels will turn when I get home tomorrow. Just doing some research so that I can hit the ground running when I'm back on it :)

Yeah, definitely strange then. Only thing I can think of is that one of the pads might've gotten cocked or something and is wedged up against the rotor. Hard to tell until you take it apart. I really doubt it's the e-brake unless the e-brake decided to coincidentally lock up on the day you did the brakes (stranger things have happened, however). Easy enough to verify by seeing if the levers are releasing when you release the ebrake, I suppose.

Is that your car in your avatar? Just curious because I wonder how big those rear wheels are and how close they are to contacting something. I know that when I hit a curb with the rear wheel of my car and threw off the alignment badly (a lot of positive camber), there was such little clearance between the barrel of the wheel and the corner of rear spring that it caused them to contact and rub enough that I could not move the car. Grab a flashlight and just look around the wheel and rotor area and see if anything is contacting the spring or one of the control arms. With those big open wheels you should be able to see the brake pads and see if they're seated correctly. If you were able to move the car a few inches, look for scrape/rub marks on the wheel/rotor too.

Dope

Yes, that's my car in the avatar. The rear tires are 305 but I don't remember the width of the rim itself. Contacting? Lots of. I used to have the car slammed and it would rub enough that none of the printing on the sidewall exist anymore it sorta looks like race slicks from the side :) I've raised it half an inch since then and no more rubbing but I'll certainly check over those areas you mentioned.

Thanks for all your help!

Have you tried it with the car on and off the ground?


Do you mean if your car is sitting on the ground ALL FOUR WHEELS and you put in drive and take your foot off the brake....the car WONT move? I mean with you giving it zero throttle, just idling.

If so, that's really weird after a pad swap.

Have you even tried it with all 4 tires on the ground?



ADVICE!!!!!!!! If you are in your garage or anywhere really...make sure you pump the pedal a good 10 times before you put the car in gear. I've done a couple of brake jobs without bleeding immediately and when i put the car back on the ground one time, I started the car and went to drive off....no brakes, I almost took out my other 2 cars in the driveway at the time. Just pump them up a few times and you'll have a good enough pedal.

Have you removed the master cylinder cap?

I usually suck some fluid out so it doesn't make a mess.

Only on the ground.

It's a stick shift, so I do have to engage clutch w/ some acceleration.
Yes, it's the only way I've tried it thus far.

:iagree: Been there done that. Pretty recently too on the BMW. A VERY scary feeling.

I found the problem. Since adding the new rear brake pads, the difference in thickness of the new pads pushing the caliper on its slider bolt caused the calipers to stick out further by a few millimeters, which apparently caused not enough clearance for my CCW505's , thus hitting the brake calipers. I suppose it's a combo of having the CCW505's and the eradispeed plus sized rotors was just a few millimeters thicker than stock. Looks like I need to shop for spacers.

Could always grind on the caliper a little bit if it's that small of a difference.

Dope

Good to hear you found the problem.

you might be able to pull the calipers and remove the shim and that'll get you enough clearance too.



ONCE AGAIN, THERE IS NO AUTO ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM IN THE C5 DRUM E-BRAKE.

Peter

Vectorz,

In my opinion spacers are the way to go over grinding on the caliper, shop around and you will see many options.



Geez Peter, Thanks for yelling this correction. I was only giving the OP a suggestion on where to look...hence the reason I said "some" :o

Call Summit Racing, they'll get you set up. Doesn't sound like you need much of a spacer, but if for some reason you end up going with more than 1/4" you will need longer wheel studs too...

Be VERY careful if you grind the caliper. I would not do it. an 1/8 inch spacer should be enough.

You literally only need to have enough clearance to get a sheet of paper in between the wheel and caliper.

glad you got it figured out, that would have taken me a bit to figure out too lol

Sorry if it was offensive but every time the rear brakes on a C5 comes up some "expert" who has never worked on the e-brake brings up the auto adjustment feature. There is no such thing.

Peter

Funny you say that cuz after putting the (temporary generic) 1/8" spacer on, it literally looks like I have about a paper sheet of thickness for clearance. It makes me a bit nervous and was thinking about getting 1/4" instead when I order some higher grade ones.

I've put a few sets of AMP brand wheels on Subaru WRX STI's with the Brembo front calipers. These had just enough space to slide a piece of paper through. Both cars have been pretty heavily auto-crossed and haven't been back for anything other than the normal alignment and zero rubbing issues.

The wheel cannot move "inward" and the caliper won't either. 1/4 inch spacer isn't too bad though if you really want the extra peace of mind.

You may want to get a little longer wheels studs though but again personal preference. :cheers:

Ya know it is really car (vette vs wrx etc) and wheel dependent (oe vs aftermarket). You would be suprised what kind of flex and compliance can be seen under heavy cornering and braking loads. If you leave only a few thou clearance the caliper and wheel will make any additional clearance they need.

If it were my car I would be looking at the possibility of finding pads with a thinner installed thickness as an option.