Jeep JK Wrangler Maintenance
Emergency/Parking Hand Brake Adjustment

February 06th, 2009 | Category: Jeep JK Write-Ups, Operation & Maintenance, Troubleshooting
Are you finding that you are having to pull up on your Jeep JK Wrangler’s emergency/parking hand brake higher and higher in order to get it to work? Or, are you finding that even after pulling it up as high as you can, your JK still tends to roll on an incline? Unfortuantely, it is not uncommon for your JK’s e-brake to lose its effectiveness over time but fortunately, there is a way to make adjustments to it with simple tools and with relative ease. To get your emergency/parking hand brake working like new again, simply follow the write-up below.

What You Will Need

• 18,19mm Wrench
• Torque Wrench
• Brake Spoon
• Small Flathead Screwdriver
• Floor Jack
• Wheel Chocks
Brake Spoon
 Can be purchased at most any auto parts store.

Instructions

1. Chock your front tires, release the parking brake, place a floor jack under the rear differential and then raise the back end of your Jeep JK Wrangler until the tires come off the ground and can rotate freely.
2. While it’s not required to do so, you may find it much easier to remove the wheels and brake calipers in order to get to the rubber access hole plug and make adjustments through it. For the purposes of this write-up, that’s what I did and if you would like information on how to do remove the brake calipers, simply click on the write-up link below:

Jeep JK Wrangler Maintenance
Rear Brake Pad Replacement Write-Up
3. Remove the rubber access hole plug on your Jeep JK Wrangler’s brake backing plate as shown in this pic.
4.Insert a brake spoon into the access hole so that it engages the teeth on the adjuster screw. Then, rotate the adjuster screw up until there is a slight drag when you rotate your Jeep’s wheel.

5. Using a small flat head screwdriver, push and hold the adjuster lever away from the adjuster screw star wheel and then back it off with the brake spoon until it no longer drags when you rotate your Jeep’s wheel. Reinstall the access hole rubber plug and repeat process on the opposite side. Try to get both sides adjusted equally. To help give you a better understanding of what’s going on inside, please refer to the diagram to the left.

1) Star wheel adjuster
2) Adjuster lever
3) Brake shoe
4) Small flathead screwdriver
5) Brake spoon
6) Brake shoe spring
6. Once everything has been adjusted, reinstall your wheels, tighten the lug nuts to 95 ft. lbs. of torque and then lower your Jeep JK Wrangler back on to the ground. Test out your emergency/parking hand brake by pulling up on it and check to see if it keeps your JK from moving. If everything went according to plan, you should find that the brake lever won’t be able to lift up very high anymore and it should have a lot more bite.
And that’s it. Your Jeep JK Wrangler’s emergency/parking hand brake should be working well again. Please let me know if you have any questions.

20 Comments so far

  1. John February 15th, 2009 3:12 am

    I asked the dealer to make this adjustement….they said it could not be done?

  2. Jamil February 15th, 2009 10:49 pm

    Thanks for this writeup. My parking brake basically doesn’t work at all. The dealership told me it’s not adjustable and that I probably damaged it. Thanks again!

  3. wayoflife February 17th, 2009 12:07 pm

    glad to hear this write-up was able to help you out. :)

  4. Preston February 19th, 2009 12:48 pm

    I took mine to the dealer for this last year and they told me it was self adjusting??

  5. wayoflife February 20th, 2009 11:45 am

    i guess the question needs to be asked, if it were self adjusting, why take it to the dealer to get it adjusted. in theory, it is self adjusting and only if you know how to get it to self adjust but the reality is, doing this by hand is much easier and more accurate.

  6. Preston February 20th, 2009 5:36 pm

    Yeah I think they were just didn’t want to do it. There was a bunch of things I was having them look at that day.

  7. Preston February 20th, 2009 5:38 pm

    Is the brake spoon also called the “star wheel adjuster tool”? I picked one up yesterday and it looks a little different from the on in the picture.

  8. Rob (Australia) February 21st, 2009 6:44 pm

    Thanks for the write up I haven’t had a handbrake working since I bought the car nearly 2 years ago.

    I followed your instructions yesterday and now I have a handbrake working…..keep the self help topics coming.

  9. wayoflife February 22nd, 2009 1:58 am

    glad to hear it and you can count on more write-up are on their way :)

  10. Preston February 23rd, 2009 3:21 pm

    I was able to move the star wheel up but I couldn’t find the adjuster lever. I never noticed any wheel drag as I rotated the wheel. After I did this to the driver side I noticed the parking brake was stiffer and only went up half way. I figured I better do the same thing to the passenger side and when I did the parking brake now seems looser and pulls up very high. Does the passenger side star wheel move in the opposite direction??

  11. wayoflife February 24th, 2009 1:19 am

    the star wheel is attached to a screw of sorts and they turn the same way in and out so yes, i suppose you could say that it would be opposite. if you were to take off your wheels and rotor and look inside what’s going on, you might get a better idea of what to do.

  12. JKStell March 5th, 2009 8:26 am

    Great write-up; with over 40,000 miles I’m DEFINITELY going to have to do this myslef (I haven’t had a working parking brake since I don’t know when!). My dealer did it the first time a long time ago…cleared out a TON of debris from wheelin’ and adjusted it and it was great. But wheelin’ accelerates the brake losing its grab A LOT. This will be a GREAT way to keep everything in check without leaving your driveway! JOB WELL DONE!

  13. jeeper63 April 2nd, 2009 11:40 am

    Thanks for the write up.
    My e-brake stopped working after about 10000 miles, with the lever pulling right up to the top.
    Now at 16000 miles I finally decided to fix it and when I got the wheel off I saw that the disc pads were 2/3 gone as well.
    So put the wheel back on and got some new pads and did the lot. Easy job.
    Next thing is finding out why my e-brake lever jumps/slips if I pull it up real hard. This has been happening from new. Any ideas ?
    Cheers from across the pond.
    Andy

  14. tajjali saeed August 6th, 2009 5:55 am

    I had mine JK 07 serviced from the dealer and i had asked them to fix the same emergency brake problem. they did a good job by readjusting it not i just have to pull a few clicks and it transforms into a stome. cheers

  15. john November 21st, 2009 1:02 am

    thanks for the information if it were not for this i probably would have had to go to a speciality shop and had to spend a lot of money to get this done… but now i can do it myself and save money…. so thank you

  16. ron February 1st, 2010 9:43 am

    roof leaks, front steering stablizer leaks, stalls, dash lights flash, brakes bad, parking brake dosent work, no power

  17. Chris February 22nd, 2010 4:28 pm

    Haha. Ron, it sounds like you need to get a horse and buggy my friend!

    My e-brake has been making a popping sound like something is binding, but it’s also loose. I’m going to try this and see what happens with the noise i’m hearing. Anyway, nice writeup!

  18. Plac April 1st, 2010 1:52 pm

    Edge back very slowly in reverse. Pull up on your parking brake lever to tighten it up. This utilizes the auto-adjustment lever properly and turns the star adjuster to tighten it.

  19. Wayne Banks May 3rd, 2010 12:49 am

    Fantastic- two years of back and forth, self adjusting BS from the dealer.Worked a treat and feel confident. The wife almost sunk the Rubicon in the creek yesterday.

    Thanks WB

  20. joe June 20th, 2010 8:55 pm

    just implemented the method plac described on april 1st 2010 for “self adjustment” and it seems to have worked perfectly. Bravo and thankyou.

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