Diy E-Brake Fix

[ftpiercecracker1]

WARNING: This is my very First writeup

Tools you will need:

angle grinder w/ cutting and tiger paw wheels
bench vice
wire cutters
electric drill
welder, i SUCK at welding and managed to use a plain jane arc welder, if you can get a hold of one, use a MIG
assorment of pliers/channel locks
couple of wrenches/sockets
a torch would be helpful, but i didnt have one
dremel w/ metal bit

Its not perfect, but it does the job.

Your first step is to completely remove the e-brake from the truck, three bolts. The cable attached at the bottom is VERY hard to remove, but you CAN do it without cutting. There should also be a single wire with connector, this is just a simple grounding system that turns your "brake" light on and off.

I can give more detailed information on removal if needed.

 

 

This is what mine looked like after the fix. When you pull yours it should look identical minus the hex bolt.

 

Now that you have the bracket out and set onto your work table, you will see there are two springs used to operate the assembly. Remove them and set them aside, you WILL reuse the larger of the two.

 

 

 

This spring's sole (soul?) function is to hold the catch arm against the e-brake, keeping the brake locked and YOU in place. For me personally I found it to be a little weak so i made one that i liked. I will show you what i did a little farther on.

 

 

 

With the springs removed its time to start cutting.

 

On the back side of the assembly there is other portion of the pin you just ground flat. It is a large round head that will be recessed into the bracket. IT DOES NOT UNSCREW, it is PRESSED AND WELDED into place.

 

 

 

 

This is what mine looked like after hacking it to pieces.

 

The next thing to do is to remove the brake release arm.




then this whole bracket. . .



Not sure if it has a name, but it is held on by just one pin as well seen here v v v (The loseness of this pin allowed a great deal of play in the arm that was responsible for locking the brake in place, not good, but after my hack job there is nearly zero play)

You can try using a drill and come from the side shown above, but i found it MUCH easier to just use the grinder again to smooth off the other side of the pin,

 

 

 

Now with the pin flush use some kind of tool (punch, screwdriver, etc) to pop it out, and discard. This is what was left of mine v v v

 

 

 

 

Now everything should be ready to take apart, and you should have something like this v v v

 

 

 

 

Its not in the picture, but you should also have 1 small keeper washer and another smaller spring

 

 

 

Now its time to cut the stem that was left over from the pin that held on the pedal. Cutting wheel worked great for me. :thumbsup: You will find that your pedal sits on top of a hump that is made into the bracket, this is also why the head of that main pin is sunk down into the bracket :ack: .

 

 

 

Because i did not have a torch to just blow the pin out from the bracket i had to literally cut the pin out taking the hump with it, v v v

 

 

IF you do have a torch, you might be able to save yourself a lot of headache and just blow the remaining pin out, just be sure to preserve as much of the hump as possible so you won't have to rebuild it like I had to.




 

 

Now its time to take a trip to your local specailty fastners shop. 
 

2 dock washers (not a misspelling) to replace the hump if you had to cut it out, they look just like normal washers just really thick, ask about em COST: about 7 bucks

 

 

 

 

One 2 1/2 inch bolt to replace the pin that held the secondary bracket, pedal and main bracket together, make sure it is as tight a fit as you can find, *get a grade 3 bolt and a grade 8 standard nut, i will explain later





One 3/4 inch "button head" bolt. This bolt is to replace the pin that held the secondary bracket and lock arm to the main bracket. The "button head" with an allen wrench fitting is a must because it allows you to tighten and loosen the accompaning nut without having to remove the release arm everytime.

 

 

 

 

You will need to matching locknuts for each of those bolts, the locknut will allow you to tighten them up enough so that it minimizes play while still allowing free movement.You will need to get a locknut for each of those bolts, the locknut will allow you to tighten them up enough so that it minimizes play while still allowing free movement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To make it so the head of the bolt will not interfere with the motion of the release arm you will have to do a little clearancing with a dremel on the secondary bracket.

 

If you are going to replace the small spring i showed you at the top of this post you will need to visit your local TSC (tractor supply company) They sell a package containing two springs about 5in long that are of a slightly smaller diameter than the one that came on your E-brake. IIRC cost about 4 bucks. These were the only ones i could find that offered the strength AND diameter that i was looking for. Trust me if you find the ones i bought you will be VERY suprised at how strong they are.



If you find them you will see right away they are WAY to long. You will have to cut a section to the appropriate length and bend yourself a new hook on the cut end. This is what mine ended up looking like and it works great! :thumbsup:


How it looks installed. . .




Once you have all the hardware, take the two dock washers and weld them together along their seem. Make sure to keep them as perfectly lined up as possible while welding so that the bolt's path will not be thrown off. This is where a vice comes in handy. Once welded together use your grinder to remove a large portion of one side. This is because there is a piece that extends down from the bottom of the pedal that hits the washers as it rotates around and prevents it from seating, turning and untimately functioning.



This is what mine looked like after a little grinding.  You can see just how much the bolt hole has been offset, however this still needed a lot more grinding.

 

 

You will need to partially assemble and disasemble the bracket several times to determine if you have grinded down the washers enough. 


Reassembly:

 

 

Place the welded dock washers over the spot where the hump used to be, unwelded at this point.

 

 

 

Then the pedal. . .





Then reinstall the secondary bracket with new bolt and locknut, the "button head" should be put so that it faces into the cab. You could call it the inside of the bracket.

Tighten the locknut down until the lockarm is just free enough to move without resistance. This should help hold everything in place.



Now you can take your other bolt and put it through with the threaded portion coming out the back. (UPDATE: before you install this for the last time, turn the bolt around so that the head is on the back of the bracket, this allows for as close of a fit as possible to the body) Take the STANDARD nut and thread it down, but do not tighten. Since you have the bolt through holding everything together you should be able to spin the dock washers around until they allow the pedal to seat flush againt the washers. All that matters is that it sits flat for now, once you get the washers tacked down you can take everything back off and grind the washers until you get proper clearance.

When it comes to the final welding of the washers to the bracket, I can't tell you where to put them, you just have to try and operate the pedal a few times to determine where it needs to be welded for it to function properly. I used a C-clamp to hold everything perfectly still and then tried to use the pedal to determine where it need to be. To make it as easy as possible the only spring that should be in place should be the one on the release arm.

Here is mine welded into place with locknut installed, yes i know my welds are grotesque :ack: but hey metal is fused to metal thats all i care about.


After cleaning up the welds tighten the nut down and cut off the excess bolt. This is why I suggest using a low grade bolt with a high grade nut. The high grade nut stands the best chance of clearing the threads of slag and other crap that might other wise bogger up the threads. before you take off the nut try out the pedal a few times to see if it works and has unhindered range of motion. You will probably need to go back and grind off more of the washers to make more room and while your at it you can weld the inner seem.

If everything works and has free range of motion you can now put on your locknut and tigten down in the same fashion as the other locknut. Install your custom spring and clip and bend the original larger spring to your liking. BE AWARE the metal is brittle and if bent to many times it WILL BREAK OFF.


And there you have it, if everything worked out your newly rebuilt E-brake should work like a thing of beauty. aaaaand if not PM me. :thumbsup:

To be honest i have yet to install mine, but i am nearly 100% sure you,we, i will have to drill a hole in the side wall to clearance the new locknut sticking out the back.

[ParadiseMJ]

:popcorn:

[A-man930]

:popcorn: X2

[vaquaro]

:clapping: :popcorn:

[Harley]

X3 :popcorn:

[skidoo_j]

You're probably not done with your how to thread but I was wondering... with that large nut on the back side did you have issues re-installing it?

[Akula69]

You're probably not done with your how to thread but I was wondering... with that large nut on the back side did you have issues re-installing it?

 

I'm gonna take a WAG here and say he probably drilled a hole for it before re-install.

[sinkrun]

:popcorn:

[ftpiercecracker1]

You're probably not done with your how to thread but I was wondering... with that large nut on the back side did you have issues re-installing it?

 

I'm gonna take a WAG here and say he probably drilled a hole for it before re-install.

 

Brilliant deduction holmes. ;)

 

 

 

I WILL BE FINISHING THE WRITEUP TONIGHT 7/26/12

[jpdriver1]

needs to be a sticky in projects when write up is finished ---- :cheers:

[ftpiercecracker1]

For all intensive purposes the writeup is done :chillin: . There are a few other things i will add that i thought might be helpful, but arent crucial to the project. I really REALLY hope people can understand what i did, if you have any questions PM me, i check it every night.

 

thanks for your guys patience. :wrench:

[relyt120]

For all intensive purposes

 

I usually don't do this but I think you meant "intents and purposes" :smart:

 

Great Write up, can't wait to try! :thumbsup:

[ftpiercecracker1]

For all intensive purposes

 

I usually don't do this but I think you meant "intents and purposes" :smart:

 

Great Write up, can't wait to try! :thumbsup:

 

You know, i never realized that until now. :rotfl2: :dunce:

[jimoshel]

[WARNING: This is my very First writeup]

 

Never know it if you hadn't said anything. Very well written, lucid and informative. Tnx for taking the trouble to post it.

[ftpiercecracker1]

Didnt mean to post this again, :doh:  don't know how that happened, but thanks for the compliment jim. :)

[92tanMJ]

 

For all intensive purposes

I usually don't do this but I think you meant "intents and purposes" :smart:

 

Great Write up, can't wait to try! :thumbsup:

I almost sent this link to you haha

 

 

Didnt mean to post this again, :doh:  don't know how that happened, but thanks for the compliment jim. :)

Well I'm gald you did..will this fix this?

[ftpiercecracker1]

It might be just enough to pass state safety tests or whatever that is.  But for a permenant fix this writeup is the only one i know about. 

 

EDIT: Something that might help without completely dismantleing the assembly is to replace the small retaining spring that holds the keeper arm against the pedal.

[92tanMJ]

It might be just enough to pass state safety tests or whatever that is.  But for a permenant fix this writeup is the only one i know about. 

 

EDIT: Something that might help without completely dismantleing the assembly is to replace the small retaining spring that holds the keeper arm against the pedal.

 

Well I'm in ohio and we have none of that. Its pretty something I want to do for my self lol I might check the retaining spring like you said though

[64 Cheyenne]

Or somebody could just buy the one I'm selling in the classifieds....

[jimoshel]

With my long legs I have trouble getting my foot on the brake (parking) pedal. Getting ready to check out the possibility of installing the hand brake set up from a XJ.

[64 Cheyenne]

With my long legs I have trouble getting my foot on the brake (parking) pedal. Getting ready to check out the possibility of installing the hand brake set up from a XJ.

 

I should be posting a DIY sometime soon, possibly this weekend if I get it done, weather permitting

[ftpiercecracker1]

I should be posting a DIY sometime soon, possibly this weekend if I get it done, weather permitting

 

 

:popcorn:

[ftpiercecracker1]

Just an FYI, it’s been a while and I have long since installed and torture tested my renovated E-brake pedal. I am happy to report that it works extremely well. Holds securely, releases easily, and does not slip one iota.  :wrench:

[HOrnbrod]

:clapping:

[cruiser54]

:clapping:

You gonna put this as a write-up somewhere?