2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission '96 Ram parking brake: Who thunk this up?!

[SRath]

I have never liked the Dodge parking brake from day-one. The goofy ratchet design that returns the pedal to the up position even when the brake was applied eliminated any "visual verification" of engagement. That meant total reliance on the "Brake" light, which was useless if the ignition was off, so I would find myself constantly re-pushing the pedal. Hard. So did everyone who ever drove my truck. That probably lead to some unnecessary wear and stress.



When mine began to "pop-off" by itself occassionally, I knew it was time for a change.



I can not believe how overly-complex Dodge designed such a simple decades-old mechanism! No wonder it has reliability issues. Way too many moving parts!



I wish I could describe better how I did it, but a simplification is that I welded the pedal arm to the ratchet cam and increased and reversed the spring tension which also increased the tooth engagement pressure. The spring now acts as a pedal return as well as a release. My pedal stays down when the brake is applied and it holds positively. Then it comes back up when released. I can actually LOOK and SEE it is engaged. Just like a normal truck.



Much of the poor design stems from Dodge being obsessed with using that flat-copper-contact brake light switch instead of just a simple, reliable plunger-type switch, then relying on a careful and too-delicate balance of spring pressure to keep the teeth (kinda-sorta-hopefully) engaged. The "pedal-always-in-up-position" ratchet mechanism is the rest of the nightmare.



No wonder these trucks cost so much! When manufacturers go to such extremes to build an overly complicated and less effective "mouse trap" to replace something as simple as a parking brake, it has to cost a fortune in design work and to manufacture all of the extra unnecessary parts.



Now that it is getting colder, I will be needing a reliable parking brake so I can let my engine run and warm up sometimes while parked.



Has there already been a better solution found to this problem? I just went with my own approach. Maybe no one else has had parking brake woes? I'm curious about that, too.

 

[JoshPeters]

Great fix!



you are not the only one that has had this problem. I know of a couple people that Too have had this happen. Luckily no damage to the one truck that rolled away!



JP

 

[Got Smoke?]

Pics?!?! Sounds like a great fix, and I have a friend who's a good welder! Mine released one night as I was locking the gate at work. I actually go the lock latched... turned around... took half a step... . heard "POP!"... thought OH *CRAP* and before I could get to my cab my truck had rolled back through the gate destroying the lock.



Did I mentioned the driveway to my work is very steep! #@$%!

 

[SRath]

So my truck isn't the only one? Its a bad feeling not being 100% confident about the reliability of something like that. Having to carry and use wheel chocks and always looking for a "safe place" to park says it all. I'd be happy to share what I did and I realize now how difficult it is to just describe.



I actually even thought about photos when I modified the mechanism, but could not find my wife's camera at the time and she wasn't home. Let me see what I can do about getting some. I may need help figuring out how to post them and it might take me a few days to find an opportunity to get some. And that is IF my wife figures out what the heck she did with the camera... Kind of an expensive thing to be misplacing... (grumble, grumble)

 

[CumminsPower98]

The question I have is have there been any updates over the years. I have a '98 and I worry about this all the time as I let the truck run and apply the brake many times a day when stopping for short periods, many times with a heavy trailer on behind (RV transporter). Mine has never let go but I have read about it happening so it bothers me.

 

[Jong]

www.highangledriveline.com makes a transfer case mounted parking brake that will also change your transfer case over to a fixed-yoke rear output so if you tear your rear driveshaft or pop a u-joint you can just remove the rear driveshaft and drive off. You'll have to redo the rear driveshaft, but you get a much simpler parking brake with a single shorter cable. I'm doing one on a 1990 K5 Blazer with a NP241 similar to the one on our trucks. Looks cool, too!

 

[SteveAnsley]

I've expereinced the dreaded 'POP' - luckily we were just outside the truck, otherwise the soccer mom's mini van would have a Ranch Hand imprint in it's rear hatch



I've since tightened up the slack in the cable so the brakes are tight w/ the pedal just over 3/4 pressed - seems better.

The day it let loose the pedal had to be pressed all the way to the end of the rachet.



Question:

My previous truck was a 2001 Dodge 1500 - it didn't have the goofy setup where the pedal returned to the up position.

Did Dodge make a change at some point?

Is a retrofit an option?

 

[analog]

my 2001 doesn't return to up until the brake is released. Push it to the floor, and it stays there. Granted it needs some adjusting as it doesn't hold all that well, but the pedal stays on the floor. So, they must have changed at some point from the previous design.

 

[PSInt]

Sounds like a good candidate for a RECALL !!! Oo. :--)

 

[SteveAnsley]

Sounds like a good candidate for a RECALL !!!

I've been wondering the same thing.

I'd be interested in how many have expierenced this problem.

Sounds like a precident may have been set if Dodge changed back to the standard design.



What year did it change?

 

[Devan Manis]

i think 2000, my 2000, has the pull lever and it stays down when applied, and works DANG good, i did a 10psi launch with it... hit 10psi, pulled lever and away i went, it would have held more if i had let it but i was just seeing. then in 01. 5 they went to the disc in the back with miniature drums for the park brake, they don't seem to work as well.