I need a parking brake system!

[John E Davies]

I got about half a mile up a track (to a lookout tower along the Magruder Road in central Idahoo) that was just getting TOO narrow and nasty for my trailer. I found a slightly wide spot and I decided to decouple the thing and reconnect once I got the truck turned around. Luckily there were big rocks and a tree to act as chocks - the terrain was quite steep, and I wouldn't have trusted my little portable plastic chocks to hold the trailer...

I am prepared to order a set of Dexter brakes with P brake levers. I just need to get some ideas about fabricating the cables and control arm.

Can anyone help? Pics would be great.

BTW, about five minutes after I headed back down the track, nine quads came by, loaded with camping gear and telescopes. I guess I could have used them for chocks. They_squeeked_ by my rig with it crammed tight against the up-slope berm.

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[Brian in Oregon]

That's what's nice about the military jeep trailers - parking brakes!

In the meantime, get some of the plastic wheel chokes and carry them.

 

[John E Davies]

That's what's nice about the military jeep trailers - parking brakes!

In the meantime, get some of the plastic wheel chokes and carry them.

Well, yeah, that's why I am asking! I need details!

I always carry plastic chocks, but I would not have trusted them to hold on that slope.

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[lx450landcruiser]

are you running electric brakes?
is your axle 3500#?

I have the brake assembly off my M101, including the military parking brake handle ect. youd have to get drum hubs to work with your wheels but they work great. After tooling around with mine i wish i still have a parking brake. but I wanted the electric brakes

 

[John E Davies]

are you running electric brakes?
is your axle 3500#?

I have the brake assembly off my M101, including the military parking brake handle ect. youd have to get drum hubs to work with your wheels but they work great. After tooling around with mine i wish i still have a parking brake. but I wanted the electric brakes

Getting electric P brakes for my Dexter 3500 pound axle is not the problem - they are P/N K23-086-00 and K23-087-00, and are readily available. My existing brakes are pretty worn and they shudder, so I need to rebuild them anyway.... so I might as well upgrade.

I just need to figure out how to fabricate the cables and control arm.

If someone with a military trailer can post some close up pics of those parts, I would be a happy camper. I could design something from scratch, but that makes my brain hurt.

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[Brian in Oregon]

Well, hey, use electric brakes and install a battery on your trailer. You can temporarily engage the electric brakes as parking brakes then. Not a solution for long term parking, but for trail use as you describe it would work.

 

[John E Davies]

Well, hey, use electric brakes and install a battery on your trailer. You can temporarily engage the electric brakes as parking brakes then. Not a solution for long term parking, but for trail use as you describe it would work.

Yes that would work, but it adds a lot of complexity to the system and I would have to keep the battery charged, and what if the battery fails?

I just won't trust a non-mechanical system when the trailer is perched on the edge of a steep ravine.

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[KY854RUN]

Hi John,

Here are some photos of how the trailer brakes on my M416 are set up. You can look at my rebuild of the trailer here, Two Week Wonder.

Here are the photos.

This is how the brake handle connects to the brake cable.

I had to make these extensions for the cable housings because I did a spring-over and the cable housings would not have been long enough to reach the brakes.

In this photo you can see the cable housing running behind the shock and where it attaches to the brake assembly.

I hope that this helps you.

 

[John E Davies]

Kevin;

Thanks very much for the pics. They help a lot.

Any idea where I could get a set of cables, or have them made?

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[KY854RUN]

John,

The parking brake cable assembly (NOS) can be found on Ebay. Do a search for M416, M100 or MBT. Most of the cable assemblies that I saw on Ebay were found under the M416 search.

Good luck.

 

[alia176]

forgive the simplistic question, can't you use any handbrake handle and cables out of a typical junk yard vehicle?

 

[Kief]

yep, old thread ressurection

 

[greentruck]

Hard to beat some surplus part prices even at the junkyard -- and why not go with the real deal? An example is the standard parking brake lever assembly at only $4.95:
Emergency Brake Handle

 

[Chris Wilcox]

Madison Power Systems

These guys made exact replicas of the cables for my M101 CDN military trailer based on a picture and measurements I sent them. They seem to have everything you would need.

I don't know this for sure but I was told they were the OEM for the M101 CDN parts.

 

[alia176]

Madison Power Systems

These guys made exact replicas of the cables for my M101 CDN military trailer based on a picture and measurements I sent them. They seem to have everything you would need.

I don't know this for sure but I was told they were the OEM for the M101 CDN parts.

this is good info. How long was the cable and what was the cost?

 

[Chris Wilcox]

this is good info. How long was the cable and what was the cost?

It was 60 or 70 each for the back two cables if memory serves me. I had everything else already.
I think it was 4" longer than this or so. Somewhere I have the actual picture I sent to them with part numbers of each piece and an actual length. This picture is what I can find now and what I was sent from a user on the m101cdn yahoo group as "close but too short".

 

[alia176]

It was 60 or 70 each for the back two cables if memory serves me. I had everything else already.
I think it was 4" longer than this or so. Somewhere I have the actual picture I sent to them with part numbers of each piece and an actual length. This picture is what I can find now and what I was sent from a user on the m101cdn yahoo group as "close but too short".

View attachment 1314090

Excellent, thanks for the info. I had no clue what kind of costs these kinds of projects incur. I need to something on the Kamparoo and these guys are probably the ones who can make me a custom cable length.