Hello,

My emergency brake on my suburban doesn't work hardly at all. I've tried to adjust it but everything that I read says that the brake is self adjusting.

Is it safe to say that I need new e-brake pads? And that should fix it?

 

its self adjusts for wear but it must be set up properly to begin with. Its not going to make up for a large gap if its set to loose.
you say pads but just to confirm...rear disc or drum brakes?

 

I have rear disc brakes but the parking brake pads are inside the drum of the disc (if that makes any sense). So I guess they would be considered drum brakes for the parking brake.

Can you tell me how to adjust the parking brake cable?

 

you need to adjust the ebrake shoe to the hat in the rotor. this adjustment must be made first. typically, when both sides are set up correctly, you may not even need to adjust the cable. adjusting the cable first is wrong as this may result in one shoe applying and the other loose.

spec is usually 0.026" clearance...some people remove the rotor and adjust the star wheel to the factory clearance reading or you can adjust with the rotor in place to a slight drag and back it off a couple notches.