Parking Brake System: Description and Operation

Parking Brake Lever:

All vehicles are equipped with a center mounted, hand operated park brake lever. This lever is an auto-adjust type which continuously applies minimal tension to the parking brake cables, to keep them in adjustment at all times. Due to this feature, the park brake cable system does not require adjustment. Proper parking brake system adjustment is obtained by proper rear drum brake shoe adjustment.

On vehicles with rear drum brakes, the rear wheel service brakes also act as the vehicle's parking brakes. The rear drum brake shoes, when acting as parking brakes, are mechanically operated using an internal actuating lever and strut which is connected to a flexible steel cable. There is an individual park brake cable for each rear wheel, which are joined using a park cable equalizer before terminating at the floor mounted, hand operated park brake lever.

Parking Brake Assembly For Rear Disc Brake:

Drum In Hat Braking Disc:

The parking brakes on vehicles equipped with rear disc brakes consist of a small duo-servo brake assembly mounted to the disc brake caliper adapter. The hat (center) section of the rear rotor serves as the braking surface (drum) for the parking brakes. This park brake application uses the same operating cable configuration as the drum brake equipped vehicles, but different cables.

The parking brake lever has a short output cable that connects the lever to the rear cables. The parking brake lever output cable is not replaceable as a separate component of the parking brake lever.