I bought this truck from a person in Michigan and there is a lot of rust underneath. The handbrake didn't work, so I removed the rear brake drums/rotors to see what I could see. The pistons that press out on the circular handbrake shoe were frozen up, so I removed them to clean them. The first one went fine, but when removing the other one, the (too) small bolt (8mm head) that holds on the retainer that holds the shoe on broke. So, I guess I need to remove the axle to get at the broken screw part, since I can't get to it with the axle in place. Is the axle held with a circlip in the differential, or do I remove the bolts inside the brake drum?
The truck is a 4x4 extended cab, 1500, 4.8L engine.
Hope this makes sense.
Joe

 

book says you can remove rear hub. that comes out as assembly with parking brake. this should fix your problem, all you have to do later is to disaasemble the hub and drill out the bolt. go to local library or autozone website for instructions.

silvies are norious about parking brake pedal going all the way into the floor with no resistance, don't expect much improvement. GM says it's normal, some sort of "design for old lady". dummmm system does not hold either way.

btw, buy yourself a lot of quick wrench oil. not the 1st bolt you'll snap on it. just like jeremy clarkson said - 50 000 parts, all made by the lowest bidder.

 

Another avenue of approach here is to consider changing the entire rear-end for a fresh one from a salvage yard. It depends on how much work that axle's going to be down the road. If you decide to switch rear-ends, just make sure you get the same gear ratio on your swap, or it's hasta la vista transfer case the first time you drop it into 4WD.

 

change rear axle because of the broken parking brake nut??