I always put a stick transmission in first gear. Why on earth would you rely on a break that on most vehicles doesn’t work so well after a year or so? Put it in gear, it doesn’t hurt anything.

 

Just never had to..., it always held fine.... This is my first jeep ( suv) it was always in a car that I just pulled the e break....

 

Every time I see one of these threads pop up I tell myself I've got to adjust my parking brake. The most ridiculous part is that I've adjusted the brake on two of my friends cars in the past couple months and haven't gotten around to it on my own jeep.

Thanks for the reminder, I'm going to quit being lazy and fix mine tomorrow.

 

TORN and I rebuilt my e-brake just a few weeks ago. Worked great for about a month, then it's started doing the same thing again: The height at which it engages is all over the place. Sometimes two clicks and the handle won't pull up any more and the brake holds. Sometimes the handle pulls up all of the way and the brake will not hold even in my very, very slightly inclined driveway. Anyone have any suggestions?

For the record, my son's F-150 pick-up, which I bought brand new for me in 1998, has an e-brake that still holds and stops the truck when driving (like an e-brake is supposed to do!) at 160K miles. It has never been rebuilt. What's up with Jeep?

 

Ronjenx did a great write-up of the function of the lever a while back. I would have to assume the wonky actuation of the brake is due to the lever cable drum thing. It appears to be set up like a clutch kind of deal and every time you pull the lever the cable gets a fresh grab on the drum and then that actuates the parking brake cable.

It makes a lot more sense with the pics in the write-up.

 

That's my point I just feel like a break is suppose to stop or hold the car at all situation....

 

You won't hear an argument from me that the parking brake is supposed to work well, but a little redundancy is usually advisable. Same reason I turn my wheels in to or away from the curb when I park on a hill. If the grade is enough for the jeep to roll with any speed I actually roll into the curb with the tire to lock it in as well.

Overkill for some, common sense for those who have experienced or expect a problem.

Just describing what my habits are, not telling anyone "the right way" to park.

 

The clutch spring may be slipping on the drum.
Try washing the clutch spring/cable drum on the lever with brake cleaner. You can spray it on the parts through the brush seal.
Wash it down with liberal amounts of cleaner.

I'll bet you will see improvement in its operation.

 

Genius idea, I'll have to give that a go along with my shoe adjustment. Thanks again ronjenx.

 

guys I just got through redoing the whole ebrake assembly on my 08 Rubicon. It is NOT self adjusting. I don't care if you drive it forward, backward or sideways. It is NOT self adjusting. It must be adjusted manually. My wife has a 2011 and I checked hers and it is the same thing.

If you recall in the older vehicles with drum brakes there was a lever that was 'rockered' when reversing that would actuate and move the spur gear therefore adjusting the drum brakes of the vehicle. The emergency brakes in the Jeeps is not like this. There is no lever for the spur gear therefore it does not self adjust.

Here's a diagram of the ebrake system;