Emergency Brake design sucks... any upgrades?

[jlongjohn]

Please find the person that designed the E-Brake setup on this 2014 Ram 1500 I have and punch them in the eye...

Seriously, can we not invest just a bit of ingenuity or technology to make this thing work?

First the cable setup is a joke. Only one cable/side actually pulls on tight. Then the lever and pivot points in this disc/drum setup is painfully designed. Looks like they just grabbed some dude off the street that was drunk and said can you smack this metal with a chunk of wood and make a ****-Poor lever to rust solid so these brakes will never work right?

Does anyone know if there is an upgrade available or maybe a setup from another generation or vehicle that would improve this?

Especially given the electronic auto on this 8 speed, I would like to have a solid E-brake. I also park off camber a lot for hiking and hunting.

Thanks for reading and enjoying my vent... if you know of an improvement let me know.


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[Tim Garceau]

The brake shoe assembly is even better!

 

[Tumbleweed]

Brake line locks. Either manual or electric.

 

[rickjkline]

My cable hangs so low, I have installed an ibolt to route the drooping cable through for pure aesthetics.

 

[crazykid1994]

My brakes break loose sometimes. Sometimes the ebrake goes to the floor. Sometimes it gets tight and the truck actually stays in its spots. Hopefully the internal park lever in these 8spds are solid...

 

[jlongjohn]

My cable hangs so low, I have installed an ibolt to route the drooping cable through for pure aesthetics.

Same here, in that pic I took I actually had it pulled up with the pedal. It hangs below the bottom of the frame! Heck there’s so much slack you lose half the pedal just in that slop....


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[CVX20]

Truth of the matter is that the brakes should be serviced at least once a year.Proper cleaning of the caliper pins and the pad slides as well as cleaning and lubing all of the park brake parts would have stopped what the OP is seeing now.

 

[Tach_tech]

Truth of the matter is that the brakes should be serviced at least once a year.Proper cleaning of the caliper pins and the pad slides as well as cleaning and lubing all of the park brake parts would have stopped what the OP is seeing now.

Absolutely this. Most people never use their park brake or maintain them. So by the time they finally do ***** seized and doesn’t work anymore. Ya it’s an old design, but it works just fine and is cheap as long as it’s maintained. It’s an extremely common setup. A good portion vehicles on the road use the same setup. Some have it built into the brake caliper but that’s not as common. Newer vehicles now have an electric parking brake as well.

 

[crazykid1994]

Now that I’m thinking about it and I have all this free time maybe I’ll disassemble mine and give it a good cleaning and a grease job. Any recommended grease to do this job? I have green heavy duty trailer grease, marine grade grease, and red and tacky. Also have moly grease but I know that’s more for rubber and poly bushings and ball joints.

 

[jlongjohn]

I don’t disagree on maintenance, I’m a big proponent, but since I just bought this 2 months ago used I of course couldn’t have maintained it. The design is simple, but it could easily be improved to reduce the chance of failure. I work in the maintenance industry, and I can tell you designing out failure is much more affordable and safer than routine maintenance. There is no reason with increases in technology and materials that this cannot be improved.

That said, I have found nothing other than stock replacements so I will be cleaning and lubing the assembly and replacing the levers. I service twice a year so it shouldn’t be a problem moving forward, but the cable design is just horrible. Hangs down too low and not enough bracing to ensure both wheels brakes are applied evenly.


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[Tach_tech]

If the cable is hanging that low it’s likely stretched over time. See if there’s any adjustment left in it. If there’s not enough might be an idea to replace the cables.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I snapped off my emergency brake cable on my '97 almost flush with the backing plate the very first time I took the truck hunting. I backed up over an unseen stump and the cable enters the backing plate at a very low spot.

 

[NovaScotia Ram]

Truth of the matter is that the brakes should be serviced at least once a year.Proper cleaning of the caliper pins and the pad slides as well as cleaning and lubing all of the park brake parts would have stopped what the OP is seeing now.

What brake maintenance do y'all do and how often (time or miles)?

 

[CVX20]

Pull the rear rotors,disassemble the park brake shoes,tear everything apart clean and lube,clean rust or build-up off of the backing plates where the shoes rub and lube those spots ,reassemble and adjust.
Clean any rust off the pad slides(under the clips) and lube.Clean and lube the pins/bolts that hold the caliper on.
Servicing is more time related than mileage.I like to do it every fall before the salt and sand starts on our roads here.I would think even in the south once a year wouldn't be our of the way.

Did I mention clean and lube everything?

 

[Wild one]

Now that I’m thinking about it and I have all this free time maybe I’ll disassemble mine and give it a good cleaning and a grease job. Any recommended grease to do this job? I have green heavy duty trailer grease, marine grade grease, and red and tacky. Also have moly grease but I know that’s more for rubber and poly bushings and ball joints.

I used anti-seaze on my parking brake assembly after sand blasting everything clean,and that was 3 years ago,and the parking brake is still working good yet,and I haven't serviced them since.

 

[jlongjohn]

So riddle me this, for anyone who sees this. Look at the cable pic from my first post, and explain how both cables on this ebrake setup are supposed to be pulled at the same time when you push the pedal down.


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[Badger 13]

You could also install a Mico Lock for a better parking brake.

Mico Lock
Featured snippet from the web
Description: MICO Brake Locks are supplemental safety devices that provide additional brake holding when used in conjunction with a vehicle's properly functioning mechanical parking brake*. There are several retrofits available for single, dual, split or anti-lock brake systems.

 

[CVX20]

So riddle me this, for anyone who sees this. Look at the cable pic from my first post, and explain how both cables on this ebrake setup are supposed to be pulled at the same time when you push the pedal down.


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It's just a parking brake so it doesn't matter if they come on at exactly the same time.As long as they both lock up.Probably one side locks and then the other cable has to move(catches up) and locks the other side.I doubt any set-ups pull both cables at exactly the same time.

 

[jlongjohn]

It's just a parking brake so it doesn't matter if they come on at exactly the same time.As long as they both lock up.Probably one side locks and then the other cable has to move(catches up) and locks the other side.I doubt any set-ups pull both cables at exactly the same time.

Actually it’s doesn’t matter if it’s at the same time, but it matters a lot that both have some minimum amount of applied pressure to ensure the axle/wheels can hold the vehicle. And most setups I have worked on over the years split and pull both from a splitter. This one pulls the passenger almost to the point of bottoming out and then the driver slightly moves. The driver has no means for leverage to be applied other than a chance that the cable is stiff enough when adjusted precisely to have the passenger bottom out and then the cable friction, not actual tension, pulls slightly on the driver.

I’ve been working on vehicles for 30 years. There are a multitude of better designs out there. I’m just venting and hoping they do better on other models and newer years. I like my Mopars but also like vehicles in general. I expect more from them than the average person.


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[jlongjohn]

You could also install a Mico Lock for a better parking brake.

Mico Lock
Featured snippet from the web
Description: MICO Brake Locks are supplemental safety devices that provide additional brake holding when used in conjunction with a vehicle's properly functioning mechanical parking brake*. There are several retrofits available for single, dual, split or anti-lock brake systems.

Thanks, I actually used Mico line locks in my old Buick. Used at the drag strip for warming tires of course, but occasionally some fun on the street [emoji6][emoji106]

They work well and they do offer a bunch of different options.


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