FWIW I just went through a nightmare with my e brake, this is how I fixed it.

First backed of the cable adjustment as much as possible as shown in the pic

Second adjusted the brakes to tollerance as shown in the FSM

Third adjusted the parking break lever at the backing plate, about .010 clearnce to the stop and reinstalled the spring

Last adjusted the cable, I went with 14 clicks

and made sure all moving parts were free and well lubed including the brake shoe contact points, again as outlined in the FSM.

Hope this helps. BTW my cable is original and has yet to stretch to the point of being unusable. This was my first real experience with the rear or parking breaks but if adjusted in this way I am sure it will work.