Parking break lever fail safety issue

[TTU03]

I always use my parking brake when I park in my drive way. The drive way has a slight incline so after I put the truck in park I pull back the break lever. This is a long term habit from my past vehicles as well.

Just now the lever went completely limp when trying to apply the break. The lever has zero resistance on it. Can I assume that until I get this fixed at the dealership that this only effects my usage of the parking break? I don’t want to cause any additional damage by driving.

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[TTU03]

Update. I looked under the console thinking all I need was to tighten the lever. I can see one of the two cables that connect to the mechanism is snapped. Dealer cannot see me until Oct 25. Guess I wait and drive as normal.

 

[AmishMike]

The parking brake tale is old as time, if you use it a lot, you will break a cable, if you don’t use it at all, it will rust tight.

 

[Kirk*Mojave]

The parking brake tale is old as time, if you use it a lot, you will break a cable, if you don’t use it at all, it will rust tight.

Dammed if you do Dammed if you don't..

 

[Hootbro]

The parking brake tale is old as time, if you use it a lot, you will break a cable, if you don’t use it at all, it will rust tight.

That brought back some memories from my Grandfather teaching me to drive in his F100. Told me he would rather replace a broken parking cable from use than one from being frozen tight from rust. Told me he would beat me if I came to him about the latter.

 

[AmishMike]

@Hootbro I like your Grandfather's reasoning and I agree!
Are you coming with us to Rausch Creek on 10/22?

 

[Hootbro]

Are you coming with us to Rausch Creek on 10/22?

Had not looked into it.

 

[JTBurns]

Had not looked into it.

Check it out!
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/fall-run-at-rausch-creek-10-22.62467/

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The parking brake tale is old as time, if you use it a lot, you will break a cable, if you don’t use it at all, it will rust tight.

Gee, been driving for 50 years, often use the parking/e-brakes, never had a cable break but have had to replace cables on cars I've obtained because they rusted.
When you drive a stick, you don't rely on it being in gear alone (at least I don't)
My JT is an automatic, but I still use the lever a lot because I've had to replace broken park pawls and other parts because the force of impact on a parked vehicle will snap parts where the brakes absorb a lot of that and prevent transmission damage. I wish I had taken pics of some of the transmissions I've worked on but back then, developing rolls of film wasn't cheap and cameras were cumbersome to carry around.

I've also seen transmission park pawls or dogs not fully engage in the gear and allow cars to roll at times. Rare but it's happened.

My cars have new park brake cables.

 

[sunrise089]

Told me he would beat me if I came to him about the latter.

That escalated quickly

My truck is currently at my local dealer. My brake has SOME remaining effectiveness but the handle has only slight resistance and never gets tight before hitting the stop at the top of the travel range. Plus when disengaging the handle there’s an audible “clink” noise from what sounds like a cable flopping around and/or a bracket having come lose.

Based on the handful of threads about similar issues I expected no issues with getting this fixed on my 11 month old truck, but dealer is merely “hoping” it will be a warranty fix. Not exactly encouraging.

 

[Elkhunter1948]

My Gladiators parking brake failed for the second time this morning. I called two different Jeep dealers and as soon as I could get my Jeep in for service was December 20th, over two weeks out. Feeling totally pissed off, I checked the internet and found detailed Youtube instructions for removing the center console and accessing the emergency brake lever, so I made repairs myself.

It took me about an hour with basic hand tools. One of the cables had jumped out of the yoke that is connected to the e-brake lever. I had no pressure on the lever when it failed. I think the cable had stretched allowing it to jump out of the yoke. I installed the loose cable and adjusted the tension on the cables with the lever in the relaxed position. It took very little adjustment to get good tension.
Afterwards I test drove my Jeep to make sure the e-brake was not dragging.

Not having a working emergency brake is totally unacceptable and apparently it is a frequent failure item.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

My Gladiators parking brake failed for the second time this morning. I called two different Jeep dealers and as soon as I could get my Jeep in for service was December 20th, over two weeks out. Feeling totally pissed off, I checked the internet and found detailed Youtube instructions for removing the center console and accessing the emergency brake lever, so I made repairs myself.

It took me about an hour with basic hand tools. One of the cables had jumped out of the yoke that is connected to the e-brake lever. I had no pressure on the lever when it failed. I think the cable had stretched allowing it to jump out of the yoke. I installed the loose cable and adjusted the tension on the cables with the lever in the relaxed position. It took very little adjustment to get good tension.
Afterwards I test drove my Jeep to make sure the e-brake was not dragging.

Not having a working emergency brake is totally unacceptable and apparently it is a frequent failure item.

Poor design - some have a clip or pin that goes over the yoke so a cable can't "jump out".
This is the other end under the car, but even in the 1960s and 70s, there's a pin to prevent the cable from jumping out in the case of slack -

 

[Elkhunter1948]

Update. I looked under the console thinking all I need was to tighten the lever. I can see one of the two cables that connect to the mechanism is snapped. Dealer cannot see me until Oct 25. Guess I wait and drive as normal.

 

[VolInGa]

My Gladiators parking brake failed for the second time this morning. I called two different Jeep dealers and as soon as I could get my Jeep in for service was December 20th, over two weeks out. Feeling totally pissed off, I checked the internet and found detailed Youtube instructions for removing the center console and accessing the emergency brake lever, so I made repairs myself.

It took me about an hour with basic hand tools. One of the cables had jumped out of the yoke that is connected to the e-brake lever. I had no pressure on the lever when it failed. I think the cable had stretched allowing it to jump out of the yoke. I installed the loose cable and adjusted the tension on the cables with the lever in the relaxed position. It took very little adjustment to get good tension.
Afterwards I test drove my Jeep to make sure the e-brake was not dragging.

Not having a working emergency brake is totally unacceptable and apparently it is a frequent failure item.

Guess I’ll just expect this to happen soon. My right arm is programmed to pull the parking brake from years of always driving manuals. Even in the garage on a perfectly flat surface, i just instinctively use it.

 

[WILDHOBO]

My Gladiators parking brake failed for the second time this morning. I called two different Jeep dealers and as soon as I could get my Jeep in for service was December 20th, over two weeks out. Feeling totally pissed off, I checked the internet and found detailed Youtube instructions for removing the center console and accessing the emergency brake lever, so I made repairs myself.

It took me about an hour with basic hand tools. One of the cables had jumped out of the yoke that is connected to the e-brake lever. I had no pressure on the lever when it failed. I think the cable had stretched allowing it to jump out of the yoke. I installed the loose cable and adjusted the tension on the cables with the lever in the relaxed position. It took very little adjustment to get good tension.
Afterwards I test drove my Jeep to make sure the e-brake was not dragging.

Not having a working emergency brake is totally unacceptable and apparently it is a frequent failure item.

Nice. Mind sharing the link for the procedure you used? Mine is getting loose and has the same noise at disengage.

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