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Linear actuator parking brake

AK_F250

AK_F250

Red Rocket
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
178
Messages
741
Loc
Alaska
Anyone messed with a remotely actuated parking brake? I’d like to have a parking brake again, it sucks to winch when I have to sit in it and hold the brakes or put it in gear with the engine off. I’m putting a wider axle in my 4Runner and it seems like it would be simple enough to mount an actuator to the body above the axle or the axle itself with a cable to the factory linkage. All of my parking brake related stuff is gone and this seems like an easier fix vs finding all of the factory parts. I like the idea of a screw style linear actuator because once it’s “set” it can’t release or bleed off like air or a line lock.

Are there any glaringly obvious reasons not to give it a shot? We don’t have inspections or anything that requires one so no issues there.
 
Saw somewhere someone using a Tesla caliper on a custom rotor on the T-case for a parking brake. Might have been on some FB page, can't remember.
 
boardbysled said:
Saw somewhere someone using a Tesla caliper on a custom rotor on the T-case for a parking brake. Might have been on some FB page, can't remember.
Click to expand...

Tcase e brakes are a common thing in Toyota land.
 
HYDRODYNAMIC said:
I am planning on using an air brake pod to actuate the E brake. Dump air to engage.
Click to expand...

That’s not a bad idea. If something goes tits up with the air system manually cage the can and carry on. Have you looked into smaller brake cans? The spring pressure on a regular tractor with s cam brakes is probably way more than the stamped parts on a Toyota e brake can take.
 
boardbysled said:
Saw somewhere someone using a Tesla caliper on a custom rotor on the T-case for a parking brake. Might have been on some FB page, can't remember.
Click to expand...

I don’t really have room for a t case brake anymore or I would have gone that route. I could modify the floor and cage to fit a rotor in there, but using the factory brakes would be a lot less work if I go this route.
 
AK_F250 said:
That’s not a bad idea. If something goes tits up with the air system manually cage the can and carry on. Have you looked into smaller brake cans? The spring pressure on a regular tractor with s cam brakes is probably way more than the stamped parts on a Toyota e brake can take.
Click to expand...

I see the small pods at the local Napa all the time. They are about half the size of the big ones. I think the best way to use them is to put them on a lever arm then connect your cable to the lever arm. Then you can set your overtravel and motion ratio.
 
AK_F250 said:
Are there any glaringly obvious reasons not to give it a shot? We don’t have inspections or anything that requires one so no issues there.
Click to expand...

The fact that you can get a more reliable and cheaper system by using a caliper off the myriad of vehicles that has an electric parking brake. There were like five or six threads on the old board that reached this conclusion.
 
HYDRODYNAMIC said:
I am planning on using an air brake pod to actuate the E brake. Dump air to engage.
Click to expand...

Can you elaborate on this? Are you talking about the big round air brake actuators on big rigs/trailers? Thats an awesome idea. But they are fairly large, cant mount mine close to park brake lever. are there smaller versions out there?
 
The type of air brake chamber is a remote mount. Used for tail gate locks. Haldex shows all the replacement parts for theirs. They are not as common of a type since they are air to release and do not have the extra piggyback that are used more often.

It looks like a F250 E brake cable moves less than 2" at the caliper maybe closer to 1.5".

https://www.anythingtruck.com/product/052-179SC30R.html

https://www.anythingtruck.com/product/650-30RPC2.html

https://www.tsebrakes.com/medias/iw/...Sheet_Rev3.pdf

Remote.JPG


99 E350 D60 rear 011.jpg
 
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arse_sidewards said:
The fact that you can get a more reliable and cheaper system by using a caliper off the myriad of vehicles that has an electric parking brake. There were like five or six threads on the old board that reached this conclusion.
Click to expand...

I was planning on sticking with stock drums but that might make switching to disks more appealing. I must have missed those over there, are the power set or release? I'd like something that I could argue is "mechanically" set like a screw actuator or spring in an air brake in case I ever want to throw it on the ferry to do some wheeling in the states. (I'm not allowed in Canada)
 
AK_F250 said:
I was planning on sticking with stock drums but that might make switching to disks more appealing. I must have missed those over there, are the power set or release? I'd like something that I could argue is "mechanically" set like a screw actuator or spring in an air brake in case I ever want to throw it on the ferry to do some wheeling in the states. (I'm not allowed in Canada)
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Power set and power release. They're basically just a screw type caliper with the lever replaced with a motor and gear reduction. Get yourself a momentary switch and a resettable breaker.
 
That sounds like a good candidate as well then. Maybe I'll revisit the whole t case parking brake thing since it won't need all the bracketry that the cable style does. It probably has enough clamping power that I could get away with a smaller diameter rotor too.

EDIT: It looks like wildwood has one but damn they're proud of it :eek: https://www.wilwood.com/Calipers/CaliperList?subname=Electronic Parking Brake
 
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I've been eyeing the F150 rear E-brake calipers for my D70 build, but they're still a bit pricey at this point. There are also some aftermarket controllers available to actuate them. I believe they have adjustable force (current) controls. I wonder what rotor width the Tesla caliper will accommodate ?
 
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Keep talk about these Tesla calipers, I can't find much on the internet, but I'm interested.
 
welndmn said:
Keep talk about these Tesla calipers, I can't find much on the internet, but I'm interested.
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Tesla isn’t the only one. I’ve been eyeballing a VW Passat caliper also.
 
Looks like the 2020 F150 rear rotors bumped up to nearly the same size as the 2010 F250 rear rotors. Some retailers show the same calipers for both applications if it is non electric. So if the electric calipers continued on 2020 they could possible bolt up. The calipers require a special switch and parking brake control module along with the wiring harness, but the caliper only has two blade contacts in the plug. Aftermarket controller searches are flooded with trailer brake controllers. So it is unclear if anyone makes one. It is discouraging that Ford needs a computer to control an electric parking brake caliper. Cable might be alot less of a hassle than another computer system.
 
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If you run a np205 there is the np200 parking brake option.

Check my pics of it on p4x4
 
HYDRODYNAMIC said:
Looks like the 2020 F150 rear rotors bumped up to nearly the same size as the 2010 F250 rear rotors. Some retailers show the same calipers for both applications if it is non electric. So if the electric calipers continued on 2020 they could possible bolt up. The calipers require a special switch and parking brake control module along with the wiring harness, but the caliper only has two blade contacts in the plug. Aftermarket controller searches are flooded with trailer brake controllers. So it is unclear if anyone makes one. It is discouraging that Ford needs a computer to control an electric parking brake caliper. Cable might be alot less of a hassle than another computer system.
Click to expand...

Might have a lot of communication bullshit in that controller to talk to the PCM and BCM. If all that is needed is on/off for a park brake it might just need 12v on/off?
 
PAE said:
If you run a np205 there is the np200 parking brake option.

Check my pics of it on p4x4
Click to expand...


Transfer case brake:
bracket-caliper-rotor-yoke-ujoint-driveline-slip shaft-ujoint-yoke-pinion-ring gear-locker-axle shaft-hub
Wheel brake:
bracket-caliper-rotor-hub

The transfer case brake brings in more ways to fail. The wheel brake is redundant as it has both sides. I left out the means to operate the caliper as it could be the same for either application.
I have a friend with same worries about not having a parking brake and only using the trans to go through all those same parts and not have something brake and be without a solid way to park or some brake resistance to help when dragging it off the trail.
 
Wendle said:
Might have a lot of communication bullshit in that controller to talk to the PCM and BCM. If all that is needed is on/off for a park brake it might just need 12v on/off?
Click to expand...

Remember how Ford complicated their electric locker. It had lock out functions for stability control and speed. It also had a engage voltage or amperage and then a holding voltage or amperage. I believe they could burn up it they had constant power. Maybe this go around is simple?
 
HYDRODYNAMIC said:
Looks like the 2020 F150 rear rotors bumped up to nearly the same size as the 2010 F250 rear rotors. Some retailers show the same calipers for both applications if it is non electric. So if the electric calipers continued on 2020 they could possible bolt up. The calipers require a special switch and parking brake control module along with the wiring harness, but the caliper only has two blade contacts in the plug. Aftermarket controller searches are flooded with trailer brake controllers. So it is unclear if anyone makes one. It is discouraging that Ford needs a computer to control an electric parking brake caliper. Cable might be alot less of a hassle than another computer system.
Click to expand...

I pulled up the wiring diagram, it looks like it's run by the abs module and monitors amp draw to determine when the brake is at the correct "pressure". I couldn't find the voltage at the caliper but I would imagine it's 12v. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of universal module out there that would cut out at a certain amperage, kind of like a digital fuse of sorts. If you could figure out fords target numbers I could see being able to put something stand alone together.
 
HYDRODYNAMIC said:
Looks like the 2020 F150 rear rotors bumped up to nearly the same size as the 2010 F250 rear rotors. Some retailers show the same calipers for both applications if it is non electric. So if the electric calipers continued on 2020 they could possible bolt up. The calipers require a special switch and parking brake control module along with the wiring harness, but the caliper only has two blade contacts in the plug. Aftermarket controller searches are flooded with trailer brake controllers. So it is unclear if anyone makes one. It is discouraging that Ford needs a computer to control an electric parking brake caliper. Cable might be alot less of a hassle than another computer system.
Click to expand...

I admittedly have to do some more research, but if it only has 2 wire connections, it's a simple DC motor, nothing more. It's needs needs a controller that can limit current, and reverse polarity to release the brake. Stand-alone controllers are out there, there seems to be an aftermarket developing around the Tesla caliper: https://www.pantera-electronics.com/epbcontroller.htm
But I have to think the larger F150 caliper will have more clamping force than a car "spot" caliper. I saw this site linked for a universal controller, but it may require 1 per caliper ?
https://www.e-motioninc.com/ACTUATOR_CONTROLS_s/6.htm
 
Many Subaru's have electronic parking brakes as well now. Subaru tends to be fairly simplistic in their electronics compared to other manufactures so it may be easier to mess with than something that came out of a computer on wheels like a Tesla.
 
Trucks with factory automatic transmissions use a park position on the shifter and that has worked the same for the past what 75 years or more.

It also goes thru all of the same drivetrain.


HYDRODYNAMIC said:
Transfer case brake:
bracket-caliper-rotor-yoke-ujoint-driveline-slip shaft-ujoint-yoke-pinion-ring gear-locker-axle shaft-hub
Wheel brake:
bracket-caliper-rotor-hub

The transfer case brake brings in more ways to fail. The wheel brake is redundant as it has both sides. I left out the means to operate the caliper as it could be the same for either application.
I have a friend with same worries about not having a parking brake and only using the trans to go through all those same parts and not have something brake and be without a solid way to park or some brake resistance to help when dragging it off the trail.
Click to expand...
 
PAE said:
Trucks with factory automatic transmissions use a park position on the shifter and that has worked the same for the past what 75 years or more.

It also goes thru all of the same drivetrain.
Click to expand...

He means if you break any one of those things you're now without a parking brake.
 
Very simple solution, Dont break any of those things and you wont be without a parking brake.




AK_F250 said:
He means if you break any one of those things you're now without a parking brake.
Click to expand...
 
To calculate parking cable force:
Assuming a person can generate full body weight with one leg = 200lbs person = 200lbs at the pedal would be max design force, the average person would push with less than 100lbs to actuate the brakes.
Looks like the F250 pedal is around 2:1 so it can generate 200lbs of pull to engage the brakes
This is confirmed with some of the electric linear actuator brakes systems that are rated at 200 lbs although most actuators are rated to push and not pull so the rating goes down. Some actuators can not handle pull at all so be careful which ones you choose.

The air pods I mentioned earlier will generate too much pull so they are out.
 
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