The parking brake shoes on your Mercedes-Benz are an often overlooked part of the braking system, especially if your vehicle has an automatic transmission, and you rarely use your parking brake.

Lack of use, however, can be even more detrimental to the parking brake system than constant use. If you never use your parking brake, the shoes can fall apart, and when they do, they can become wedged in between their backing plate and the integral parking brake drum on the rear rotors.

If you are working on your rear brakes, now would be the perfect time to inspect and replace your parking brake shoes if they are showing signs of wear or neglect.