I took my RT in for some work and one of the things was the e-brake. My driveway has an incline so I put the ebrake on so that its not so hard on the tranny. Well a couple of weeks ago it stopped holding like it should. So I took it to the dealership and they said that there was no adjustment on it and that it will hold with the transmission, but wont hold the vehicle on its own. Sounds odd, since it use to work and they it quite. Just wondering if Im the only one this has happened to and if not how did you fix it. Any info would be great.
E-brake
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The parking brake design used on the Nitro is similar to your typical self-energizing drum brake. What self energizing means their hold increases with forward movement of the vehicle. To apply the parking brakes, the hand lever is pulled upward. This pulls the rear brake shoe actuating levers forward, by means of a tensioner and cables. As the actuating lever is pulled forward, the parking brake strut (which is connected to both shoes), exerts a linear force against the secondary brake shoe. This action presses the secondary shoe into contact with the drum. Once the secondary shoe contacts the drum, force is exerted through the strut. This force is transferred through the strut to the primary brake shoe causing it to pivot into the drum as well. No parking brake holds a vehicle on an incline as well as it does on a decline. The only parking brake system that will hold equally is one that employs the disc brake caliper.
Another function of the parking brake system on the Nitro is that they do not self-adjust sufficiently at the drum on their own. They do self-adjust at the lever for cable tension but no other adjust can be made.
Parking your vehicle using the parking pawl of the transmission is sufficient. If, however, your parking brakes do not hold the vehicle from rolling forward then have that checked.
Another function of the parking brake system on the Nitro is that they do not self-adjust sufficiently at the drum on their own. They do self-adjust at the lever for cable tension but no other adjust can be made.
Parking your vehicle using the parking pawl of the transmission is sufficient. If, however, your parking brakes do not hold the vehicle from rolling forward then have that checked.
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I must be missing something ( and will probably look like an Idiot) but my Nitro has disc's on all four wheels. It never seemed that the parking brakes on disc cars was as good as the old drum ones. I remember reading back in the 80s that the delay in 4 wheel disc's on American cars was due to a sufficient parking brake for the heavy American cars as opposed to the lighter foreign cars that had 4 wheel disc's for years. :budo:
I like dk1677 am puzzled here my NITRO also has disc brakes on all 4 wheels as I thought all NITRO's had & as Larrys accessment stated the only one that should work well is if you had disc .Does the e brake on the NITROS work off the brakes or is it one of those that works off the driveshaft ? Might be the reason for limited adjustment in either case if its not working its not a good thing. Let us know what the dealers fix for this is hopefully just a simple adjustment.:thk:
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The parking brake on the Nitro uses a brake design called "drum in hat rotor". With the attached illustration hopefully it will be more clear on the operation. The rotor serves a dual purpose, a braking surface for the disc brake pads and and "drum portion" for the parking brakes.
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I just took mine in for this service, the speaker TSB and a full electrical/mechanical cut out again. The e-brake...well the tech told me that he could adjust the hold on the brakes for me with the star wheel that exists because it will not hold at all...experienced this on the road at a fire call and I have the 6 speed manual...not a great experience.
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LOL well they dont teach you that stuff in drivers ed for nothing. I have an auto so it doesnt matter, but your supposed to let your wheel roll to the curb when you park. but if your in your garage or in a parking lot, that doesnt help much now does it? lol
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Life expectancy will depend on usage and in my case how much the wife drives with the e-brake on (just like she did with her Dodge Grand Caravan).
Anyway, if the deal is similar to the Grand Caravan you can't get aftermarket shoes so you have to get them from Chrysler who charge an arm and a leg for them.
Anyway, if the deal is similar to the Grand Caravan you can't get aftermarket shoes so you have to get them from Chrysler who charge an arm and a leg for them.
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E-brake fix
Apparently the cables for the pre jan production nitros are too long and the mechanism does not engage the cable until about the second to last click. If you are having this problem I would suggest going to your dealer and we can get a TSB generated.
Apparently the cables for the pre jan production nitros are too long and the mechanism does not engage the cable until about the second to last click. If you are having this problem I would suggest going to your dealer and we can get a TSB generated.
I have also had this issue as well as my town house parking lot is at incline, I took it to the local dealership and they told me they could not adjust the ebreak, and the tech would file this issue with the Engineering department, so hopefully something will come of this.
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