Pielut's Driveline Parking Brake

Stoppping is a good thing and better yet; being able to keep the engine running without the old girl slipping down the hill. Sure you can grab a rock or that tool bag full of Harborfrieght cheapness and block the tire. Wouldn’t you rather have an actual parking brake that works? I know some of the diehard fans will stick with the grease catcher placebo stock drum setup, but not me.
I have come to the realization that a Jeep without a parking brake is rather annoying. I mean, how many flat roads do you four wheel on? Can’t exactly stop with the engine running and get out; well you can but that brings on other problems.
Here is my build from design to installation, so park your butt in that chair and stop by for some fun. See what I did there.

First order of business was to procure a mechanical caliper. It just so happens that the style I like is rather expensive and difficult to find. After a quick call to Parts Mike I was able to order the caliper by itself. This build will require a custom bracket mounted to the Dana 18 transfer case to support the caliper. Here is what the caliper looks like from his site. My design will likely be similar to this setup.

Next up was the design of the custom rotor. The rotor needs to match the requirements of the caliper. Rotor thickness and diameter are the two limitations to consider here. So with that in mind the rotor will be 8.5” x .375”.
The original design for the rotor was good and looked cool, but there were a ton of holes. Holes equal time and as we all know time equals money. This will be cut on a water jet and the guy I use suggested that I keep the holes to myself and come up with something cheaper. Well crap…I spent a lot of time drawing that sucker up and I didn’t exactly know how to make it better. Back to the drawing board I guess.
The new design incorporates what I call, “bent ovals”. We’ve all seen them on rotor discs. It’s not like I invented the shape. They look simple, but not easy to draw, especially with my novice CAD skills.

First design



Current design and the one sent to the water jet guy.



Here is a pic of the actual part in paper form.



The rotor will be mounted forward of the rear output yoke on the transfer case. The yoke will have to be removed from the t-case and then the rotor can slip over the yoke. Longer bolts will be required to accommodate the thickness of the rotor.

Yoke removed



Fake rotor installed.



That’s all for now. Waiting on parts before I can move on.

 

Nice........been looking at doing something similar.......I'll watch.

 

Thats what all the kits you can buy have. A member here has successfully made one of these. I have been successfully using my drum packing brake, but the D18 started to leak. Works much less good now.

 

Not silly question to me as I was going to ask the same thing. My thought was the smoother surface the better as it would be less likely to hold debris. After all it's only used as a holder and not for heat generating stopping.

 

Legitimate question Howard. I don't think the slots are necessary for this application. Does it look better than a disc without slots; I think so. Will it have an adverse effect on its functionality; I doubt it. I sure could have saved a lot of time leaving it blank.

 

I'll be watching this!.....been researching doing this to mine over the winter. A full rebuild and the darn P-brake wont even hold in the driveway!

 

The "vents" or whatever you wish to call them do serve a purpose. They allow trapped material a path to be flung off later. Also they give sharp edges for the brake friction material to better grab the rotor.

 

I'll leave this right here

Looks like we had common thoughts on our designs. This one is on a Jeep Dana 300. I look forward to seeing how yours works out.

 

I've been wanting one of these as well for my Dana 20... I think the slots or holes are good for "adding lightness" as the saying goes...

 

Aww dammit.. Thanks, Now I gotta do this to mine..

 

A caliper to think about.
http://www.trailerpartsdepot.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=DBC-PB-DAC225

 

i'm really going to be watching this!!!! it sure is nice to be able to leave it running and get out on a slight incline!!

 

Great! Now I have a winter project too! This has been on my mind for quite a while. The drum brake on the t-case is always problematic. No matter what you do, you will eventually have oil in there. Knock on wood.

 

Here is the business end of the brake set up. I believe this is out of a 70's era Jeep. Mopar part CCXZB030, purchased from Ebay for $20.
This will be mounted on the firewall and in a position that will be the least intrusive. The plan is to use a heavy duty cable to connect the pedal to the caliper.

 

The only problem with that caliper is that it's likely designed for normal trailer rotors 7/8" thick or more.

 

:iagree:

 

I know that a jeep is about twice the weight, but wouldn't it be easy to adapt a Polaris Ranger parking brake caliper? It is designed for a thin rotor. Heck, the Polaris Ranger rotor might even be adaptable. I haven't mocked up parts, but it is cable actuated and the rotor looks like it is close to the diameter you are looking for.
Just a random, thought with a beer in my hand.

 

I used Toyota stuff for mine. Just the rotor and caliper.
Thread here, post #15: http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/show...n-to-Chain/page2&highlight=disc+parking+brake
Pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/117314299486619980930/JeepStuff

had it for a while now and it still works great. Once in a while it will get some 90wt on it so I just put a little tension on it and drive a ways.