2004 xc90awd rear rotor will not fit

[tailor]

I am knee deep in a rear brake job, after fighting with the new e brake shoes I have them on.
I am ready to put the new rotor on and I am finding it will not fit over the shoes.
So far I have backed off all the way on the adjustment for the foot e brake, with no change. I do not want to hammer it on, the old rotor fits fine of course but they are rusted so badly they need to be replaced hence the new Zimmerman rotors.
I am a little stumped here, can anybody share some of their wisdom?
There does not appear to be any possibility of the e brake becoming smaller in the outer circumference( so it will fit into the inner part of the rotor). The mechanism does not appear to be binding anywhere, but it is not 100% centred, is this my problem?

Thoughts anybody?

[example2go]

I can't offer a solution - I can only commiserate. I worked on swapping out my rear pads and rotors this weekend and I have almost the exact same problem. I have 2004 XC90 and I also purchased the Zimmerman rear rotors.

Same issue - the old rotor comes off - and goes right back on over the e-brake shoes (I didn't install new e-brake shoes though) without effort.

I can get the new rotor to just fit - very tightly - over the e-brake shoes; but then I would have to hammer it in..which I started to do but it wasn't budging very much so I thought better of it.

I did call FCP Euro - where I purchased the rotors - and spoke to one of the techs. He indicated that this happens sometimes and he did mention that you have to "line up" the pads, i.e., the don't form a perfect circle. And to hammer it in...I would think that would be easy to screw up - you would have to ensure the lug nut holes line up before you start hammering it in.

Mine looked pretty circular and I don't see any way of adjusting them "better"....also did the e-brake adjustment thing and made sure it was slacked out all the way.

If you solved this, I would be curious to know how how.

[Arcticfox]

I had the same problem when I did mine recently. But note I am from the U.K.

This e-brake you mention has me wondering, mine is a mechanical foot operated parking brake. Is yours electronic in the States / Canada?

I had to double check the cable adjustor down by the seat / centre tunnel (drivers seat to you) and get it to release completely, so no threads where showing on the adjustment part of the cable.

Then you should be able to fit the new rotors / discs without issue, even with new shoes. Never force them on with a hammer. If they are tight they aint coming back off without a fight and chances are, they will bind as you drive.

[tailor]

Sorry about the very late response, been traveling a ton and finally catching up.

I may have solved the issue of the pads not fitting correctly, it would seem to me, anyway, that the locking springs ( the hook or L shape spring, which attaches through the shoe to the brake backing plate) in the centre of the shoe( red circle) needs to be facing to the rear of the car.
see picture ebrake.jpg

ebrake.JPG (229.83 KiB) Viewed 853 times

This appeared to allow the shoe to be aligned correctly so no hammering was needed to fit the drum/disk over the shoes. When I had it facing forward the shoe would bind.
Now, while there may be some naysayers, this approach did work for me as well as backing off the e-brake adjustment.

Here is the kicker, previously the e-brake did hold the vehicle on any kind of " hillock" now it does not, so here are at the differences.

The new shoes did not have the chamfered liners as the the above picture, these new ones were aftermarket, I am not sure that the chamfer plays a roll in holding the vehicle as I threw all the old parts out before I even thought to check. But it looks like a square peg into a round hole scenario as original equipment. so maybe it did hold on the chamfered sections !

I have read a lot of posts where this e brake adjustment seems to get the better of the "mechanic" /dealership and the car will not hold on the hill/incline, so I do not feel totally abandoned in this problem.( I have a foot pedal e brake with the impossible, no good, very bad screw thingy adjustment, next to the drivers seat)

It may be that the cables are in fact stretched combined with the shoes/liners without chamfer and also perhaps I did something stupid, as to why I am now in this situation.( it worked before I made any changes)

Maybe I should have just left them well alone:

Any thoughts other than these above?