1986F150Six Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 This past weekend, I was adjusting the parking brake on my truck and realized I had meant to report something when I replaced the parking brake mechanism. First of all, a big thanks to Gary for giving me a parking brake mechanism from a truck he had previously and for detailed instructions given to me by Jonathan [Ford F834]. The parking brake had pretty much failed. Sometimes if pressed quickly, it would latch, but most of the time, the ratchet devise failed to grab and the pedal would spring back. This is not a good situation when a manual transmission is involved. I had tried lubricating everything I could get to by spraying liberally, with a towel underneath the parking brake assembly to catch the runoff. It did not help. After replacing the assembly, I looked at my old one and expected to see a badly worn ratchet piece, the part that engages the teeth of the semi circle piece. I did not see any wear, but did notice that the pivot point of the piece that engages the semi circular piece did not move. It has a spring which applies downward force to aid engagement. This is at the uppermost part of the assembly and my attempts at lubricating had "hit" everywhere but this one area. I sprayed with lubricant and immediately, the parking brake mechanism worked like brand new!!! If you run into the same thing and cannot get to it using a spray can with straw, remove the 2 1/2" nuts and 1 10mm bolt and lower the parking brake. You cannot lower it too far due to the tension of the steel wrapped cable, but I believe there will be enough room to get a better angle for the spray. Remember, the pivot point is at the very top of the bracket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Interesting. Good find. I wonder if that's why Big Blue's slipped off the other day? The pedal caught initially, but just as I got out of the truck I heard a pop and the truck started rolling backward. Did you have any instances like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1986F150Six Posted May 1, 2018 Author Share Posted May 1, 2018 Interesting. Good find. I wonder if that's why Big Blue's slipped off the other day? The pedal caught initially, but just as I got out of the truck I heard a pop and the truck started rolling backward. Did you have any instances like that? Yes, I did, Gary. Do you want me to send the "refreshed" mechanism from my truck? I had planned to bring it in September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 Yes, I did, Gary. Do you want me to send the "refreshed" mechanism from my truck? I had planned to bring it in September. I really don't need it, but it you want rid of it then just bring it in Sept. I can put it in storage for the next person that needs one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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