47-55.1 Emergency Brake

[JDarby]

I understand the need for an emergency brake in a manual
drive but what about an automatic?

I'm thinking not so much?

What say the group?

As always thanks for your time and thoughts,
JDarby

[Rickysnickers]

I'd say yes, you need one.

[leegreen]

mercury comet crash:
at 5:24 into the video he tries to put it in park to stop..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oO226PgSkg

you need an ebrake!

[mr48chev]

The law in every state requires one on at lease any vehicle that left the factory with one originally meaning some Brass era cars may not have one.

Texas required one in 1974 when I got my T bucket inspected.

True you can get by without one but if your brakes fail and you get in an accident and when the truck is inspected by law enforcement or insurance inspectors and you don't even have one even if it is haphazardly hooked up your tail feathers just hit the fan.

[dsraven]

after spending all the time and effort to build an old truck, the little bit extra to install a park brake seems like a drop in the bucket. if you are running drum brakes in the rear they rely on the park brake, and it's proper adjustment, to make the brake linings fit the drum properly. where i come from it is mandatory if the vehicle came with one originally. same as seat belts. if you have an automatic understand that "park" is not as bulletproof as a lot of people thing. it is a small pin that inserts into a small hole in a drum like part. that is whats holding your vehicle back when parked on a steep hill etc. if a park brake is set properly it is done before the vehicle is placed in park. otherwise that little pin is vary hard to pull back out of the drum with the weight of the vehicle jamming it agaisnt one side of the hole.
in other words, just install the park brake, use it every time you park, and carry on, lol

[nvrdone]

After watching that video I wonder why the driver didn't shove the trans into neutral and hit the brakes. But panic does strange things.
ON my '49 I don't trust the park brake because the parts are very well worn out, plus I don't like holes in the floor. Having said that on my to do list is to install a parking brake like one in a C10 on the left kick panel.

[dsraven]

I have seen the s10 pedal assy used on the AD trucks. Seems to fit the bill.

[dsraven]

Or maybe an electric linear actuator. No holes or clutter in the cab.

[nvrdone]

Not wild about the electrical actuator. If the battery fails, I don't think you can release it & then I couldn't bump start the truck. OK, so I'm old skool !!!

[JDarby]

I am hoping my trucks original parking brake set up with the foot lever / hand release
can be tied into the corvette rear brakes parking brake (drum) inside the disc brake set up.

Funny how the most straight forward looking projects can be the most time consuming

[nvrdone]

If the park brake is cable operated it shouldn't be a problem.
I still have the original pedal, linkage and cross bar under the back of the cab. Then I have cables from each end of the cross bar back to the rear drum brakes. Works good.
Hope that's clear as mud.

[leegreen]

The full story behind the crash reads that the engine was staying in fast idle with TC above lock up RPM the entire drive. The driver was riding the brakes to keep speed down. The service brakes failed just before crash. Car did not have an ebrake.



Joining two different ebrake systems is not hard, just a matter of getting two cables / rods to line up under truck and joining them. Give us pictures of what you have so far and I am sure we will have lots of ideas.

[mr48chev]

I've got the park brake pedal assembly out of a GM donor car in my 48 mounted to the kick panel and floor board with the cable running down and through the original park brake pedal hole. The only issue is that because it is mounted above a speaker box it is high and awkward to reach to actuate. That runs back to the the cables from the 74 Nova rear axle. I think I had more time in figuring out how to mount the cable housings from the rear axle and coming up with a cable that was the right length to loop between the ends of the cables to pull them than I did installing the pedal assembly.

I did find someone who actually sells the replacement rods that go between the pedal and the crossbar the other day though.

[mick53]

My Wilwood rear disk brakes have a little brake drum and shoes built in them

[leegreen]

I found a way to shorten cables that works that I like. Drill out a length of threaded rod so cable slides inside, grind 3-4 notches into side of rod then braze the cable in the notches with just enough heat that the brass wicks inside.

Here is the setup before brazing:

Since I don't have a lathe I just drilled that by hand. The rods I used were old AD series shift linkage from the not quite scrap bin.

I'd previously validated this method with a test piece where I only did a single notch, in this picture, the fulcrum is at bottom of jaw, maybe only 1/4". I had my full body strength on the bar about 16" away and nothing budged.


The cables on my truck have been holding a few years now. I use ebrake every time I park and periodically put full leg into it to test cables.

Alternately, three or more cable saddle clamps will work if you need to attach two cables together or form a loop. Or you can go to a place the does marine rigging for a more expensive swaged fitting

[CMFT]

Lokar also sells a union to accomplish same.

https://lokar.com/wca-8074.html

[leegreen]

Back in my dune buggy days we tried things like that, they just did not hold. They'd get you through a tech inspection but not stand up to use. And once the cable pulled out you had to cut it back before you could get it in to try again, in the air cooled VW world that meant buying a new cable after every failure.
I also tried versions of drilling a bolt to clamp the cable between two nuts, it would damage and weaken the cable too much, but it would hold until the cable failed.

ymmv

[JDarby]

Originally Posted by leegreen

I found a way to shorten cables that works that I like. Drill out a length of threaded rod so cable slides inside, grind 3-4 notches into side of rod then braze the cable in the notches with just enough heat that the brass wicks inside.

Here is the setup before brazing:
Attachment 2445105
Since I don't have a lathe I just drilled that by hand. The rods I used were old AD series shift linkage from the not quite scrap bin.

I'd previously validated this method with a test piece where I only did a single notch, in this picture, the fulcrum is at bottom of jaw, maybe only 1/4". I had my full body strength on the bar about 16" away and nothing budged.
Attachment 2445106

The cables on my truck have been holding a few years now. I use ebrake every time I park and periodically put full leg into it to test cables.

Alternately, three or more cable saddle clamps will work if you need to attach two cables together or form a loop. Or you can go to a place the does marine rigging for a more expensive swaged fitting

This is impressive!
I am sure this will be valuable to me in the near future!!!

A tip of the hat to you Sir

[dsraven]

a lot of hydraulic hose and fittings places also make park brake cables. if you found a place they could make you what you need