Park Brake

[mg mike]

New member here. Does anyone know if there is a spring located in the park brake pedal assembly to hold the brake in the set position? My brake kicks off without touching the release lever. I have removed and inspected it but can't see why it has a hair trigger. My Jeep is a 1968 Gladiator. Thank, Mike

[Kaiserjeeps]

Inspect the teeth and the little pawl that catches them. As long as they are in good shape it should not release. The one small spring you might be missing is one that presses down on the pawl. It is thinner than a paper clip and frequently rusts away leaving the pawl without any pressure to push it into the teeth. It would be coiled around the shaft the pawl pivots on and has arms that press on the small flat in the center of the pawl. If it has no spring that is why.

I fixed an ebrake by putting a mini coil spring in there and welding a small cover spanning the top frame of the brake assembly. It is in my Another 70 build thread back several pages from current postings. It was a pain and I would not do it again unless I needed some self induced punishment.
Next time I had to do this repair I would find a similar spring and drill out the rivet post the pawl pivots on and replace it with a machine screw once the new spring was installed.
I might have an extra for you if yours is not workable. Most of the springs are a day away from failure. I would have to look and see if mine is any good. PM me if you get desperate.

And welcome!

[delta 18]

I had a similar issue, but I still had my spring. Mine was just gummed up with 30 yr old grease. Took it out, cleaned it up, re-lubed and it worked again.

[Kaiserjeeps]

So you can see what I was talking about. I took this today while in the shop.

[mg mike]

Kaiserjeeps, thanks for the info and the outstanding photo. I thought that there had to be something more than gravity to keep the pawl engaged in the ratchet teeth. Don't know where the original spring went as my Jeep is relatively rust free. I'll take your suggestion by finding a spring and removing the riveted pivot to access. Glad I joined this forum. Looks like it is frequented by knowledgeable and helpful members. Thanks again, Mike

[bufurd]

I don't trust em at all, 3 of mine release on their own. The only one I trust is in Humpty, I replaced the peddle and all with an electric actuator mounted to the cross member.

[Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81]

I don't trust em at all, 3 of mine release on their own. The only one I trust is in Humpty, I replaced the peddle and all with an electric actuator mounted to the cross member.

Where did you get said actuator?

[Kaiserjeeps]

A linear actuator with a stout long spring is a great way to remedy this. Years ago while building a hot rod 66 Ford truck for a guy in Portland I pondered a device like that. Using Lokar products it would sell like hotcakes at a logger competition. Switch activated it would make someone wealthy who decided to run it through.

Mike you might need to drill a window in the frame of the ebrake to get a new machine screw into place. And you most likely will have to grind down the head to clear the frame. Like a mini carriage bolt. Loctite the nut so it always stays in place. If you do this post up so we can watch...