comments:
I'm not sure what year your Ranger is but I think they're pretty much the same for at least the late 2nd and early 3rd Gen trucks. ( But I could be wrong) The only adjustment, as others have pointed out, is at each rear wheel. The adjuster is the "star" wheel assembly. If the truck sat for a long time or if the parking brake was never used the cables can become corroded inside their sheath and weld themselves to the inside of the sheath. Or they can even break. If the parking break was used a lot the cables can stretch, like all steel cables do eventually. How to fix your issue depends on which issue you have. The first test would be to jack up the rear, put it on jack stands so both rear wheels are off the ground, and spin the wheel on each side while someone applies the parking brake. A properly working parking brake should stop both wheels from spinning at or near about the half way point on the pedal travel or sooner. If your pedal goes to the floor and the wheels can still turn you're either way out of adjustment, one or more cables are stretched, broken, or missing, or your self adjusters are corroded and are no longer adjusting. The adjusting pawl that's held into the star wheel teeth by a spring can also become dislodged from the wheel and no longer click and advance the adjustment as needed. Check to make sure they're being held into the teeth on both sides. To figure out the issue you need to pull the drums off and do a visual and mechanical test on each side to make sure the self adjusters are all intact, all the springs are in place and working as intended, and the brake shoe on each side moves as someone operates the parking brake for you. Just don't let them push it out too far, you're just checking for free movement in the system on each side. If the springs and adjusters are in good shape and working but the shoes don't move, you might have to undo the bottom brake springs, remove the cable ends from the shoes and check to see if the cables move inside the housings/sheaths. Before you put the drums back on, turn the star wheel on each side a couple of teeth and keep sliding the drum on until there's just a bit of drag on the drum when you spin it by hand. If it's hard to spin the drum you went too far, just back it off a tooth or two and try again. If you did all this and have some brake but the tires still rotate a little, you might be able to do an adjustment by driving backwards while holding the regular brake pedal down enough for the truck to want to stop but doesn't, this turns the star wheel and adjusts the shoes outward to make contact with the inside of the drum, thereby making the parking brake work again. This will work as long as there's just a little play and you already hand adjusted them so there's a slight drag on each drum. If you have a manual trans like I do, I found it's a lot easier to work the brake pedal with a handle of some kind so I can keep my feet on the gas and clutch. I use my winter brush and squeegee tool to apply my brake while doing the reverse adjustment, but anything will work. If everything moves and the cables are free in the housings you might have stretched cables. If you have at least some parking brake and everything else checks out you can try one or more of these- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000COB3TG?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title I have 4 on my intermediate cable since I think the new rear cables I bought are too long. My pedal still goes to the floor even though I did all the above tests. I do have parking brake but I have to make sure it's all the way to the floor since I have a 5 spd manual and I don't like my truck joy riding around without me. 😁 I have pictures of my parking brake and drum assemblies if you need them, and I have a section on my profile that shows the parking brake system out of the official 2000 Ranger service manual. Let me know what you need, I'll help if I can.