2ndGenToyotaFan
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From 79 to 95 there were 3 E brake handles that I know of, the early handles were fixed to the brake handle shaft and worked great as long as you didn't bump them out of the locked position while on a hill etc.
In '85 the "Pull and Turn" handles showed up and while they did work alright I never liked the feel of them. Safety was good, very hard to knock the brake off on accident.
With the body changes in 89 and 90 the "Press button and turn" handles showed up and in my opinion brought the best of both function and safety to the table because once pressed the button locked the handle to the shaft without a chance of it slipping out like the pull and turn.
So what I'm getting at is if you like the press button handles and don't like the pull and turn handles like I do, there is hope! Unfortunately you can't just swap the whole mechanism, or just the shaft and handle, which would be faster and easier. The solution is to swap just the handle ends.
Step 1 is to find a press button handle, I like junk yards but I'm sure you could find one on Ebay as well... All 89-95 Trucks and 90-95 4Runners should have this handle.
Step 2, remove the pull and turn handle from your 85-88/9 Toyota. To do this you first need to remove the e brake light switch from under the dash and the base of the brake handle. Next under the hood remove the small pulley housing bolted onto the firewall below the brake booster. Next you slide the brake handle all the way forward by holding the 2 pawls just behind the front E brake handle mount in the forward position. You will know that you have the handle all the way forward when the tab that sticks out from the shaft is touching where the brake switch mounts. (Clear as Mud I know, I'll get some pics later...)
Once the handle is forward, go back to the engine bay and pull the cable end out of the end of the shaft, remove or at least loosen the lower dash plastic, and remove the handle assembly.
Now you have 2 handles, and I have pictures... Turn your pull and turn handle from this:
Into this:
Then turn it into this:
And this:
I find the die grinder is the easiest way to get that done. Cut the handle off, and remove the spring and the pin holding the cam adapter on the end of the shaft, and clean the shaft up with some sand paper. You will need to use the pin in the next phase, but first you will need to shorten it to an approximate length of 0.6 inches. I used vice grips and a grinder, clean up the pin if it has rough edges from grinding.
Next remove the pin from the Button handle:
This pic shows the handle removed from the shaft, don't do that yet, just pound out the pin and then pound in your shortened 0.6 inch pin. You want it to be centered in the new handle so that it removes this ring when you pull the handle out (there is a spring and plastic foot behind that ring, so be careful when removing):
With that ring out of the new handle you can remove the short pin and throw it away with the rest of the pull and turn handle pieces. You need to drill out the center of the ring, I used a 15/32 drill bit, and had to wallow it out a little bit to get it to fit onto the brake shaft.
Now we need to drill a new hole in the end of your brake shaft. I used a 3/16 bit and again had to wallow it out some to get it to fit the pin for the brake handle. The hole that is already in the handle is the perfect size and the perfect distance from the end of the shaft, too bad it's 90* off.... So drill a new hole like this (A drill press is highly recommended as well as a vice to hold the shaft):
With the hole in the shaft and the ring re sized it's time to reassemble. Start with the ring, put it back into the handle, the spring will now fit through the ring since you drilled it out.
Align the ring with something, and slide the spring back in before you slide the handle onto the shaft.
Double check that you have the handle on correctly, this dimple on the handle should be down, the bracket on the E brake assembly should be up, and the writing should be up side right. etc.
With a little luck it should all go back together like this:
Yes, I was bored today, and yes I like the uniqueness of modding late model parts to fit my old trucks. I hope you do as well!
In '85 the "Pull and Turn" handles showed up and while they did work alright I never liked the feel of them. Safety was good, very hard to knock the brake off on accident.
With the body changes in 89 and 90 the "Press button and turn" handles showed up and in my opinion brought the best of both function and safety to the table because once pressed the button locked the handle to the shaft without a chance of it slipping out like the pull and turn.
So what I'm getting at is if you like the press button handles and don't like the pull and turn handles like I do, there is hope! Unfortunately you can't just swap the whole mechanism, or just the shaft and handle, which would be faster and easier. The solution is to swap just the handle ends.
Step 1 is to find a press button handle, I like junk yards but I'm sure you could find one on Ebay as well... All 89-95 Trucks and 90-95 4Runners should have this handle.
Step 2, remove the pull and turn handle from your 85-88/9 Toyota. To do this you first need to remove the e brake light switch from under the dash and the base of the brake handle. Next under the hood remove the small pulley housing bolted onto the firewall below the brake booster. Next you slide the brake handle all the way forward by holding the 2 pawls just behind the front E brake handle mount in the forward position. You will know that you have the handle all the way forward when the tab that sticks out from the shaft is touching where the brake switch mounts. (Clear as Mud I know, I'll get some pics later...)
Once the handle is forward, go back to the engine bay and pull the cable end out of the end of the shaft, remove or at least loosen the lower dash plastic, and remove the handle assembly.
Now you have 2 handles, and I have pictures... Turn your pull and turn handle from this:
Into this:
Then turn it into this:
And this:
I find the die grinder is the easiest way to get that done. Cut the handle off, and remove the spring and the pin holding the cam adapter on the end of the shaft, and clean the shaft up with some sand paper. You will need to use the pin in the next phase, but first you will need to shorten it to an approximate length of 0.6 inches. I used vice grips and a grinder, clean up the pin if it has rough edges from grinding.
Next remove the pin from the Button handle:
This pic shows the handle removed from the shaft, don't do that yet, just pound out the pin and then pound in your shortened 0.6 inch pin. You want it to be centered in the new handle so that it removes this ring when you pull the handle out (there is a spring and plastic foot behind that ring, so be careful when removing):
With that ring out of the new handle you can remove the short pin and throw it away with the rest of the pull and turn handle pieces. You need to drill out the center of the ring, I used a 15/32 drill bit, and had to wallow it out a little bit to get it to fit onto the brake shaft.
Now we need to drill a new hole in the end of your brake shaft. I used a 3/16 bit and again had to wallow it out some to get it to fit the pin for the brake handle. The hole that is already in the handle is the perfect size and the perfect distance from the end of the shaft, too bad it's 90* off.... So drill a new hole like this (A drill press is highly recommended as well as a vice to hold the shaft):
With the hole in the shaft and the ring re sized it's time to reassemble. Start with the ring, put it back into the handle, the spring will now fit through the ring since you drilled it out.
Align the ring with something, and slide the spring back in before you slide the handle onto the shaft.
Double check that you have the handle on correctly, this dimple on the handle should be down, the bracket on the E brake assembly should be up, and the writing should be up side right. etc.
With a little luck it should all go back together like this:
Yes, I was bored today, and yes I like the uniqueness of modding late model parts to fit my old trucks. I hope you do as well!
). At first the brake wasn't holding so I tightened the linkage under the passenger side door and now I think he has managed to sheer off something inside the handle because the handle will spin now. I need to take it apart and see if that's it.
.
