jimtmcdaniels

***THIS FIX DID NOT HOLD. DO NOT TRY.***

SELF ADJUSTER MUST BE FIXED....




Hi all,

08 Jeep JK wrangler wanted to pass along how I fixed the park brake handle not stopping the vehicle when pulled all the way up.

I previously did the fix owners have recommended of over tightening the manual adjusters on the internal drum park brake pads and that did fix-improve the park brake holding although not nirvana and the effect went away after so many months, the pads just wear down as they are dragging all the time.
The real problem is the park brake cable is too long and/or stretched over time and Jeep did not make the cable length adjustable even most vehicles dating from the 60's and before are!

SO HERE'S MY FIX (see pics):

1. Took 3 - 3/8" nuts and one at a time clamped in a bench vise, used a hand hack saw to cut a notch out of the nut so they can be later inserted over the park brake cable and then squeezed shut and not fall off. Any similar size nut should work although a big diameter nut might make a rattling noise.. The thickness of the nut is what is removing the cable slack.

2. Removed the 4 hex head bolts that attach the center console to the jeep.

3. Fully applied-lift the park brake handle.

4. Tightly clamped 2 vice grip locking pliars to the brake cables as they go into the wheel under the vehicle so that the cables will remain deployed when we release the park brake handle later.

5. Retract the park brake handle back down.

6. Lift the center console enough to get our hands under the backside (note we may need to remove the console entirely if we need to lift the console so far for our hands that the park brake comes up too much the cable slack tight).

7. There should be slack in the park brake cable end where you can insert the cut nut to take up this slack (I ended up inserting 3 nuts in all to take up all the slack achieving nirvana of about 9 park brake handle clicks to hold the jeep from rolling).

8. Use a long handled angled adjustable pliers to squeeze the nut's cut closed making the installation over the cable permanent and secure. (proceed to check the park brake handle tightness and add another nut or two if needed).

9. Of course too many nuts might apply the park brake all the time and cause the brakes to drag while driving however I had the back axle off the ground and found the park brake does not start braking till towards the end.

10. Manual transmissions are very dangerous so be sure to always apply the park brake And put it in gear when parking!

11. Although this repair should fix the problem for some time, Over time more slack-stretch may develop in the cable requiring another nut installation or the drum pads may wear requiring them to be manually adjusted out more.

ENJOY YOUR GAS GUZZLING METAL BRICK ON AND OFF THE ROADS IN SAFETY!

Chronotripper

Nice fix! Will have to do this myself. I can't believe this problem still hasn't been addressed considering every Jeep has this problem.

ronjenx

Pretty good fix. I hope it continues to work.

The lever mechanism is already designed to compensate for cable stretch.

The way the lever's cable drum mechanism is designed, the clutch spring gets a new grip on the drum each time the lever is released, to compensate for cable stretch. There is a spring on the drum that pulls on the cable with about 20 pounds force.

See this thread: https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/stoc...-study-135255/

Maybe the tension spring on your lever is broken.

jimtmcdaniels

Can you show pics of the self adjusting components?

As I mentioned, I previously took off the discs and manually adjusted the deployment of the park brake drum pads as others suggested for this park brake problem and the adjustment did not hold-seems pads just wore down.

Why did I not see any self adjusting components, why is the self adjustment components not working as I have seen many others write about this problem and even dealers were not able to resolve on almost new wranglers?

What is the fix to this problem when the cable is not adjusting as it should?

Cheers

ronjenx

The link in my previous post will take you to a detailed study of the lever mechanism.
The parking brake on mine has been working great since new. I adjusted the shoes once about 3 years ago. It holds on an incline with just 3 - 5 clicks, depending on how steep.

I don't know why so many people have difficulty with the JK parking brake. I can look at it and see how it works, while thinking it's way too complicated. Perhaps that is the root cause.
What you did to yours is a throwback to earlier, more simple designs, where adding spacers made up for cable stretch once the cable adjustment screw reached the max travel. The JK lever mechanism should be compensating for cable stretch automatically. I know it is on mine.
I'll work on a video to show how the tension spring works to pull the cable with about 20 lbs. of force when the lever is fully down. It is at that point the cable stretch compensation takes place.

lowendrider

I bought an '11 new and the parking brake has been crap from day one. Even worse here lately. Pulls all the way up, slips, pops, everything but hold the jeep on an incline. I've adjusted the shoes twice and didn't do any good

ronjenx

Slipping and popping is sometimes caused by the clutch spring not getting a good grip on the cable drum.
Usually that can be fixed by spraying lots of brake cleaner on the spring, through the brush seal.

jimtmcdaniels

The park brake is back to where it was now, not holding!

OK, I'll have to investigate further the adjustment mechanism you have talked about and why it's not doing it's job.

Spraying brake cleaner, I'll try that too as soon as I have time and can figure it out!

Common problem seems.

Thanks

jimtmcdaniels

Spraying brake parts cleaner onto the brake handle springs through the slit did not help...

Anyone come up with something that works??

Thanks

Jim

Icepick11

Really surprised jeep has not issued a safety recall on this issue yet. I've had the dealer adjust mine 4x now. Hold for about a week and the e brake stops working basically. My driveway is steep so I have to leave mine in gear. ISSUE A SAFETY RECALL ALREADY JEEP.