Silly Question about DOT and Breaks

describe the problem, parking brakes are easy to adjust. Maybe we can help you to fix it... LoL $400 phew.......

 

if your mechanically able. crawl under there and adjuist your cable. and if your truck has holes in backing plates on the back brakes. at the bottom. wouldn't hurt to take a screw driver and adjust the rear brakes also. if you've got a low brake pedal.

can't swear by dot. but in utah. no emergency brakes is failure on safety inspection. and you can't get your car or pickup licensed till it passes safety,

 

You're in a pickup. Odds are if you are not overweight, they will never bother you.

If you plan to be successful, you'd better be prepared to get your hands dirty. Otherwise you will be out of business. Brakes are extremely easy. You already had 2tell you in 3 posts about adjusting the parking brakes, but for some reason you don't want to hear them. Your mechanic ripped you. You brought the truck in, said brakes, and he saw a sucker. He purposely left them out of adjustment.

Go go to Harbor Freight and get some tools. Go find a Haynes manual. Adjust the brakes.

 

On the inside of your truck, release the parking brake. Jack the truck up by the rear axle, and put a stand underneath to support it. Remove the wheels. There should be a hole at the bottom on the back to stick a screwdriver in and turn this gear thing to tighten the parking brakes. Loosen it. The brake drum should slide off. You should see the brake shoes held on to either side of the wheel hub by springs. You should also see the brake cable attached. Simple stuff. If there was something wrong or something missing, your mechanic would have never put it back together. Even a rotten mechanic wouldn't. Lawsuit and a half. Now put the drum back on and adjust the parking brake to keep the hub on. The wheel should be able to spin freely, but when you pull the brake cable, you should feel good tension.

 

First off, dot break refers to 30 min, 8 hour, 10 hour or 34 hour breaks. i think your concerned about DOT Brakes lol (I miss spell and typo all the time so its ok lol)

I'm assuming these aren't air brakes on a 1 ton. Unfortunately, using the trans as a brake is never an approved method. Its not a bad idea if the other brake fails as a back up, but still not approved as the only method. When working on your truck, you chock the wheels instead of just leaving it in gear. If you ever need to park on a hill, I would never trust the trans to hold it, although it cant hurt as a back up.

All this being said, how often do you get dot inspections? In my history of driving a commercial vehicle, I have never had a dot officer check my braking systems. As long as you get it fixed in time for your annual inspection, you should be alright. Make sure you keep your truck clean and you lights in working order so they have no reason to check you further, but on a 1 ton, you should be ok until you get it fixed. Carry some tire chocks just incase you need to park on a hill for your own piece of mind.

 

Your 1 ton is subject at any time for inspection on any roadway. Your parking brake needs to hold when you put it in gear or you can be put out of service. This is why I don't own a 1 ton truck and never will. If my 2500 can't pull it I don't need it.