The Random E46/ZHP Question Thread

[johnrando]

Harbor Freight.

[san]

At what age/mileage to the Flex Disc Coupling and the Drive Shaft Center mount bearing usually need replacement??

[UdubBadger]

Crap shoot. Seen some at 80k be trashed, seen some at 120k that look good. Id start checking around inspection 2 unless you have symptoms before then.


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[LivesNearCostco]

Has anyone had poor gripping performance from the parking brake and improved it with new brake shoes? My ZHP parking brake doesn't seem to have much holding power compared to the E36, the minivan, or the old Saturn. Need to pull the handle up extra to prevent car from rolling on a slight incline. Wondering if new brake shoes would fix it, or replacing my rear rotors. Maybe some oil or brake fluid leaked onto the inside of the rear rotors?

What parking brake shoes does everyone recommend?

[Just_George]

Dumb question, but are the shoes adjusted properly? They're supposed to be "self adjusting", but I've found that rarely works. Made a big difference on my car when I adjusted the shoes, then the cables to the parking brake handle.

[johnrando]

Not sure about the shoes, but you can definitely adjust (lessen the travel therefore tightening) the parking brake. There is a DIY here somewhere.

[Just_George]

You can adjust the shoes manually - it's a bit of a pain, particularly if you haven't done it before. As I said, they're supposed to be 'self adjusting', but that almost never works, on any car. Consequently, as the shoes wear they have less bite (more accurately, they're thinner and further from the drum) A little adjustment on the shoes and the cables will make a dramatic difference!

[LivesNearCostco]

I don't know if the parking brake shoes are adjusted properly. Doesn't feel like the e-brake handle needs to be pulled up too far, just that I must pull up harder on it than needed in the minivan or E36 to get the same amount of rear braking force.

I had the rear rotors off once and just left the shoes and adjusting mechanisms in place without any changes. I can't adjust them through a wheel bolt hole because I have wheel studs, but I could take off the rear rotors and adjust the shoes outward, a bit, as long as that doesn't prevent me from sliding the rotors back on.

As for jackstands, I have 3 pairs: 2 Harbor Freight and one O'reilly/Kragen store version. One set goes into my AutoX/Travel tool box. These days I do most of the car work on a sloped driveway so only use one pay of jackstands at a time. Later when the garage gets more cleaned up, I can put the car up on 4 jackstands again on the flat garage floor.

[derbo]

I don't know if the parking brake shoes are adjusted properly. Doesn't feel like the e-brake handle needs to be pulled up too far, just that I must pull up harder on it than needed in the minivan or E36 to get the same amount of rear braking force.

I had the rear rotors off once and just left the shoes and adjusting mechanisms in place without any changes. I can't adjust them through a wheel bolt hole because I have wheel studs, but I could take off the rear rotors and adjust the shoes outward, a bit, as long as that doesn't prevent me from sliding the rotors back on.

As for jackstands, I have 3 pairs: 2 Harbor Freight and one O'reilly/Kragen store version. One set goes into my AutoX/Travel tool box. These days I do most of the car work on a sloped driveway so only use one pay of jackstands at a time. Later when the garage gets more cleaned up, I can put the car up on 4 jackstands again on the flat garage floor.

I would definitely make sure the parking brake is adjusted correctly. Also you should check if the shoes have glazed over or not. Lack of friction from a smooth surface will result in a poor hold. You can also use some sandpaper and try and remove the glossy layer to see if it will improve grip. Double check the rotor surface that the shoe touches. I would use sandpaper on all surfaces related to the handbrake operation.

[Pip]

I don't know if the parking brake shoes are adjusted properly. Doesn't feel like the e-brake handle needs to be pulled up too far, just that I must pull up harder on it than needed in the minivan or E36 to get the same amount of rear braking force.

I had the rear rotors off once and just left the shoes and adjusting mechanisms in place without any changes. I can't adjust them through a wheel bolt hole because I have wheel studs, but I could take off the rear rotors and adjust the shoes outward, a bit, as long as that doesn't prevent me from sliding the rotors back on.

As for jackstands, I have 3 pairs: 2 Harbor Freight and one O'reilly/Kragen store version. One set goes into my AutoX/Travel tool box. These days I do most of the car work on a sloped driveway so only use one pay of jackstands at a time. Later when the garage gets more cleaned up, I can put the car up on 4 jackstands again on the flat garage floor.

That would be scary working on a sloped driveway even with wheels blocked.