Loose E-Brake Fix (ver. if your flat spring is coming off)
04-27-2012, 11:37 PM
#1
JK Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Southeast Michigan
Posts: 335
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Loose E-Brake Fix (ver. if your flat spring is coming off)
So I backed into my garage today and pulled the E-Brake and *snap* all of a sudden it was loose with no tension.
Fast forward to an hour ago, I pulled out the center console and noticed the following.....
You can clearly see that the flat spring came off of the tab that it is supposed to be holding on just to the right of it.
I was not only having that issue, but the cable itself came out of the track and was not only wearing out the plate but had warped it as well.
This is supposed to be a straight track, you can see how warped it became...
So I put the cable back in the track and bent it back into a somewhat straight shape.
After that, I left the flat spring loose so I could drill a small hole through the spring and the tab.
After doing so I pulled the spring around twice (might only need once depending on how taught your spring is) and placed it on the tab.
I then took a short piece of copper wire and bent it in such a way that it should hold the spring in place.
This is important to check the tension before putting the E-Brake plate nuts back in place, I only wrapped it once and reinstalled it and it was still a bit loose.
After I wrapped it a second time it was MUCH more tense.
I only needed to pull it about 75% for a full lock as opposed to 95% that I needed to with only one extra wrap of the spring.
Here is a pic of the copper wire I used.
After doing the above I don't have to pull nearly as hard to get a full lock.
Now, after fully reinstalling I noticed the rear left brake is a lot more loose than the rear right.
I'm hoping the original article on tightening the E-Brake will help in this regard.
Project-JK.com - Jeep JK Wrangler Resource » Jeep JK Wrangler Maintenance Emergency/Parking Hand Brake Adjustment
I will check back on that tomorrow.
UPDATE:
It broke again, this time the wheel mechanism stripped out the center bolt, so i had my neighbor weld it together.
Fast forward to an hour ago, I pulled out the center console and noticed the following.....
You can clearly see that the flat spring came off of the tab that it is supposed to be holding on just to the right of it.
I was not only having that issue, but the cable itself came out of the track and was not only wearing out the plate but had warped it as well.
This is supposed to be a straight track, you can see how warped it became...
So I put the cable back in the track and bent it back into a somewhat straight shape.
After that, I left the flat spring loose so I could drill a small hole through the spring and the tab.
After doing so I pulled the spring around twice (might only need once depending on how taught your spring is) and placed it on the tab.
I then took a short piece of copper wire and bent it in such a way that it should hold the spring in place.
This is important to check the tension before putting the E-Brake plate nuts back in place, I only wrapped it once and reinstalled it and it was still a bit loose.
After I wrapped it a second time it was MUCH more tense.
I only needed to pull it about 75% for a full lock as opposed to 95% that I needed to with only one extra wrap of the spring.
Here is a pic of the copper wire I used.
After doing the above I don't have to pull nearly as hard to get a full lock.
Now, after fully reinstalling I noticed the rear left brake is a lot more loose than the rear right.
I'm hoping the original article on tightening the E-Brake will help in this regard.
Project-JK.com - Jeep JK Wrangler Resource » Jeep JK Wrangler Maintenance Emergency/Parking Hand Brake Adjustment
I will check back on that tomorrow.
UPDATE:
It broke again, this time the wheel mechanism stripped out the center bolt, so i had my neighbor weld it together.
Last edited by Namtaru; 11-02-2012 at 08:27 AM.
04-28-2012, 02:27 AM
#2
JK Jedi Master
Good write-up!
Congratulations on finding yet another way for the e-brake mechanism to fail.
From the factory, the spring is wrapped around enough to give approximately 20 lbs. pull on the cable.
Congratulations on finding yet another way for the e-brake mechanism to fail.
From the factory, the spring is wrapped around enough to give approximately 20 lbs. pull on the cable.
Last edited by ronjenx; 04-28-2012 at 02:30 AM.
