The 6 spd 99 I just bought has very little parking brake grab. The previous
owner gave me receipts that show that the brakes were replaced 15K miles
ago. I've gone to a few forums that have varying information. One talks
about pulling up on the handle with the button depressed 5 or 6 times. This
supposedly pulls the slack out of the cable but does nothing with the pads.
I've tried this and it seems like I have a little more grab. Another
recommendation has you remove the lever and inspect for the ratcheting
assembly. It showed pics of it being frozen. It doesn't clearly explain how
you can determine this is the problem before dismantling. Another thread
talks about the adjusters at the wheel that requires the wheels and the
rotors to be removed. It almost sounds like the parking brake has it's own
pads and does not use the main pads. Are there separate pads for the parking
brake? I've gone to a half a dozen parts stores trying to find a C5 Haynes
book but none are available. I've been to two Chevy dealers and they don't
have any. So I'm seeing what info I can find here.

Any recommendations as to who makes the better manual? Should I be only
looking at the dealers shop book? It's been my experience that the chevy
books are not always better than the Haynes book. One guy told me to get a
Corvette Helms book. My 85 S10 Blazer chevy manual was made by Helms. Is
Helms the one still making GM books?

--
Jim