brake problem new to carts.

[bradlee21887]

ok so i purchased a used ez go textron yesterday, guy said it was a marathon but idk. there is only a serial number plate with 2 sections. first section reads 81f11, and the other reads 231460. so im not completely sure what it is but maybe someone can help me here.

i had basically no brakes when i bought it guy said they needed adjusted. pulled the wheels and drum off of the back and the shoes looked great and the springs looked brand new. went to the adjuster nut right by the cable ends in the front and of course its froze and stripped. got it to move then it stripped the threads on the bolt and just spins. eventually i get the connector where both bolt screw into for the adjustment and get it tight but only my right side cable is really pulling. i lubed the left side but when you hit the brake the equalizer metal piece that the cable ends go into shifts and only the right side really pulls. so i went to put the drums back on and the right side went on ok and i could spin it pretty easily, but the left side would barely go on i had to hammer it on there and it was hard to spin by hand. my question is is there something im doing wrong and can i just take off of shoes on the left side and just run right side brakes dont want to spend alot of money on this. im just worried itll stress the motor if its have a hard time spinning the left wheel. thoughts?

[AzPete]

If you had to hammer the drum on, that is wrong. Sounds like the brakes expanded and did not contract when released. Cable might be frozen. Try spraying with PB Blaster several times to free it up.

If you run with one wheel brakes, it will pull to that side and if attempting to stop from much more than a crawl, it could be a disaster.

Fix them the right way.

[chloe]

You may have over-adjusted the right side. As AzPete said, get the cables lubed and operating. Then pull the right wheel and carefully reduce the adjustment tension until the drag on the drum is similar to the left side.
I believe the brakes on yours are much like the TXT I have. They are "self adjusting". Unfortunately, they don't seem to "back-off". Be very careful when making any adjustments at the drum. The flap of metal that actually pushes on the adjuster star can easily be damaged.