4 Wheel Hydraulic Parking Brake
Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 3:30 pmI decided to affix my emergency brake pedal to something now that my rear axle doesn't have the emergency brake components in it.
First off I can't take credit for this - TBItoy posted this idea with his Toyota in a 'Cheap Mod' thread on the Pirate board.
1. Used a sharpie to mark the bottom arc of the vacuum booster
2. Then removed the booster.
3. Disconnect the parking brake cable down the line from the pedal. In my case, this was at the junction pictured below, which was close to right underneath the driver's seat on the frame rail.
4. I used a digital caliper to measure the clip at the end of the cable sheath, which mine measured out to .515"
5. I then used a 9/16 stepped drill bit to drill a hole through the firewall, just below the location that I had previously marked as the bottom of the vacuum booster.
6. Wrap remaining length of cable back into the engine bay and force the clip into the hole. It clicked right in.
Now the rest of the cable lines up with the brake pedal.
7. Affix the ball end of the cable to your brake pedal. I used baling wire as a temporary until I make a bracket of sorts.
Now when you press the emergency brake, the hydraulic brake system is engaged.
There are a couple of flaws with this, for example, this activates your brake lights, so I wouldn't use it long term. I'm sure some wiring genius could figure out how to use the emergency parking brake switch to turn the brakes lights off. Also, since this uses your hydraulic brake system, it obviously has no use as an 'emergency' brake in the event that your regular brakes fail. But it's still better than no parking brake at all!
First off I can't take credit for this - TBItoy posted this idea with his Toyota in a 'Cheap Mod' thread on the Pirate board.
1. Used a sharpie to mark the bottom arc of the vacuum booster
2. Then removed the booster.
3. Disconnect the parking brake cable down the line from the pedal. In my case, this was at the junction pictured below, which was close to right underneath the driver's seat on the frame rail.
4. I used a digital caliper to measure the clip at the end of the cable sheath, which mine measured out to .515"
5. I then used a 9/16 stepped drill bit to drill a hole through the firewall, just below the location that I had previously marked as the bottom of the vacuum booster.
6. Wrap remaining length of cable back into the engine bay and force the clip into the hole. It clicked right in.
Now the rest of the cable lines up with the brake pedal.
7. Affix the ball end of the cable to your brake pedal. I used baling wire as a temporary until I make a bracket of sorts.
Now when you press the emergency brake, the hydraulic brake system is engaged.
There are a couple of flaws with this, for example, this activates your brake lights, so I wouldn't use it long term. I'm sure some wiring genius could figure out how to use the emergency parking brake switch to turn the brakes lights off. Also, since this uses your hydraulic brake system, it obviously has no use as an 'emergency' brake in the event that your regular brakes fail. But it's still better than no parking brake at all!