Simple Way to Tighten Your Parking Brake Cable Without Leaving the Car — A Useful Tip Many Drivers Don’t Know

Many car owners think that tightening the parking brake cable means taking the vehicle to a service center, because without special knowledge this procedure seems impossible.

First, it’s important to understand that a parking brake can fail for different reasons, so you need to identify the cause.

If the parking brake doesn’t hold at all, the cable may be broken or jammed. In that case, the car really does need to be lifted and inspected from underneath.

However, if the parking brake engages when you pull the lever all the way up, but the car still starts rolling on a slope — or if you simply want the brake pads to engage after 4–5 clicks instead of 8–9 — this issue can be fixed without even leaving the driver’s seat.

Some people may object, pointing out that if your car has rear drum brakes, adjusting the parking brake requires removing the wheel and adjusting the brake shoes using special adjusters.

But this is only necessary if you’ve installed new brake shoes, or if the parking brake shoes are badly worn — for example, if you’ve been driving with the parking brake engaged.

If you haven’t been driving on the parking brake, the parking brake shoes barely wear at all.

Only in those cases does it make sense to adjust the shoes themselves — and even then, you need to know how to do it properly so the shoes apply evenly.

If you haven’t replaced the brake shoes and haven’t been driving on the parking brake, there’s no reason to go to a repair shop. You can tighten the cable yourself, as it has most likely just stretched over time.

Here’s what you need to do.

The process may vary slightly from car to car, but the principle is the same, and it’s easy to figure out.

First, remove the parking brake lever cover.

On most vehicles, it comes off easily — just be careful not to break the retaining clips. Once removed, you’ll see a nut located underneath the cover.

Next, release the parking brake. Place a socket wrench on the nut and tighten it slightly — this will tension the cable.

Make a few turns and check the tension. If it’s not enough, tighten it a bit more.

As you turn the nut, the cable becomes tighter.

By the way, on many cars the parking brake cable is often poorly adjusted from the factory. Even on a brand-new vehicle, it’s worth performing this adjustment right away.

Friends, on almost all modern cars with rear drum brakes and separate parking brake shoes, the parking brake cable can be tightened exactly the way described above.