LocoJeeper Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Hello gang, So today's project is to actually get that center console parking brake that I swapped in from XJ to actually... um.... park the brakes, so to speak. Crawling underneath the MJ today I saw where the old foot pedal cable came out and the bracket that attaches to the left and right cable. Then I see where the hand brake comes through the floor. But then theres another one of those brackets attached to end of the adjustment rod on the hand brake. And it doesn't appear to be a straight shot to the rear wheels. What to do? I assume XJ rear cables won't work because of the distance. I looked online and they seem to specify a single cable for 6 and one for 7 foot beds. But no differentiation between foot or hand parking brakes. I am going back to the search button for a little while. Anyone that can give me some advice before I run to the parts store and try to sneak in the back so I can measure cables... God Bless, Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfpdm Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 I'm planning on doing this as well with my build. I haven't got that far yet but I was thinking a 2dr XJ cable may be close to what would work. I figure it can't be too hard to make something work. Routing, as you noted, "it's not a straight shot", may be the hard part. Will watch how this turns out. :popcorn: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocoJeeper Posted February 7, 2008 Author Share Posted February 7, 2008 Here's what i've found out so far. The MJ has the brake adjuster mounted mid-way under the bed with relatively short cables running from the adjuster to each drum brake. Then the cable (that I now took out) runs from the adjuster through the rear of the cab to the drivers side kick plate. The XJ's with the hand brake have the adjuster at the underside of the lever itself and then further down the transmission hump have two little clips to hold in each cable and then have longer cables running to each drum brake. According to this website, a now common trick is to replace the existing rear XJ cables that have an overall length of 54" with the passenger side cables from a 91-95 Wrangler netting an overall 71.75" in length. With that thought in mind I crawled under my stock height swb comanche and took a wire running it along the existing rear cable line and extending it to the adjuster on the new hand parking brake. I cut it, removed it, then measured.... dramatic pause more dramatic pause Looks like a requirement of approx 84" to use an XJ style adjuster mount. Rats. Okay... back to the internet. I'd really like to see a picture of the adjuster / cables of someone who has a working hand brake. Pretty pa-leeze?!?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocoJeeper Posted February 7, 2008 Author Share Posted February 7, 2008 double post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaekl Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Isn't it just a matter of extending the adjustment rod on the XJ handbrake assembly so that you can reach the MJ cables? That would be a simple piece to make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocoJeeper Posted February 7, 2008 Author Share Posted February 7, 2008 Isn't it just a matter of extending the adjustment rod on the XJ handbrake assembly so that you can reach the MJ cables? That would be a simple piece to make. Perhaps... however it is about 3 1/2 feet and about a 4" height increase (to accomodate for the difference in cab and height ground clearance). Not really liking the idea of having that much of an un-protected mechanism exposed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 I'm planning on doing this as well with my build. I haven't got that far yet but I was thinking a 2dr XJ cable may be close to what would work. I figure it can't be too hard to make something work. Routing, as you noted, "it's not a straight shot", may be the hard part. Will watch how this turns out. :popcorn: there are 3 parking brake cables on an mj and a 2 door xj has the same wheelbase as a 4 door so there won't be a difference there. you need a stub cable that attaches from the xj handle to the mj bracketry and use mj rear cables. like I say, there are TWO rear cables for the ebrake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joop Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 :roll: I also search about the same "xj-hand-brake-in-mj problem" a while ago, didnt find anything so i had to figure it out by myslef... Not done yet, but as you see i have installed the brake lever and a shiny little bracket about 8 - 10" behind that. My plan was to use the stock cable and cut it in the recuired length, then braze the end-fitting back on the outher tube, pull the end of the cable trough this and braze it... Then secure the outher tube to the bracket and connect the cable to a...ehhh...we call it "eye-nut" that I'm going to screw on the adjustment lever under the brake handle. The rear end of the cable will be connectet to the stock adjustment thingy. A little hard to explain, but i can post pictures instead when I'm done (this weekend) if anybody would like to see.. Ps: if you just use a straight wire or lengthen the adjustment lever under the brake it will rub against the fuel lines = bad idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocoJeeper Posted February 7, 2008 Author Share Posted February 7, 2008 A little hard to explain, but i can post pictures instead when I'm done (this weekend) if anybody would like to see.. I think I got what your saying. Just create a cable that goes from the end of the XJ mechanism to the MJ adjuster bracketry .... seems like the cleanest idea i've seen. I'd be interested in hearing/seeing how it turns out. Looks like since it's almost 1pm and I gotta be at the jeep club meeting tonight (about 1 hour away) I think i'll just call it quits for today and tackle this project next week. Let me know how it turns out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfpdm Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 there are 3 parking brake cables on an mj and a 2 door xj has the same wheelbase as a 4 door so there won't be a difference there. you need a stub cable that attaches from the xj handle to the mj bracketry and use mj rear cables. like I say, there are TWO rear cables for the ebrake. I was planning on retaining the mj cables and adjuster. Just using the cable from the xj brake handle to the mj adjuster. I brain farted on the length though. :thwak: I haven't looked under the donor neither to see what the cable looked like. :fool: Will look around the JY this weekend for a cable that will be a direct swap so I don't have to make one. With all the different makes and models, there is bound to be one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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