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Warning!!! Always disconnect the Neg (-) battery cable and wait 10 minutes before performing any work on the Nitro! Or the air bags could go off!
Do this at your own risk.
Here is a pic of the handbrake mechanism.
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The basics of the E brake are as follows. The spring at the front is the return spring for the arm. The center pulley is for the brake cable which you can see lower left and the spring in between the pulley and brake arm is the activation spring, which is the one we are concerned with.
The activation spring is clamped to the arm and is loosely wrapped around a drum which is a part of the pulley. When the E brake arm is raised, the spring tightens and locks on the drum and rotates the pulley which in turn tightens the cable and activates the rear pads.
Now the problem is that there is too much E Brake arm travel before the spring clamps the drum and rotates the pulley. The spring only clamps the drum after about 4 or 5 clicks. The other end of the spring is open ended meaning it is not clamped in any way to the drum. It is held in position by a tab which sets the position and limits the clamping force. It is that tab you need to modify. See diag below.
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At first I moved the spring end to the other side of the tab and I had it fully engaged after 2 clicks but wasn't sure what would happen after long term usage and I didn't want the spring to lock solid and lock up my rear brakes as well. So what I decided to do was tap down the tab to let the spring activate the drum sooner and it worked like a charm.
Here are the steps to do this mod.......
1. Remove the front lower console cover by pulling up. Remove the 4X4 switch wires.
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2. Remove radio fascia by pulling out gently. Start at the bottom and work up slowly. Remove wires. This is more for the re-assembly than dis-assembly.
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3. Remove four screws. One either side the console and two inside the console box.
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4. Unzip the cover around the E brake arm. For those whose zipper is broken, just use a safety pin to activate the release clip. Lift the arm to it's max position. Slowly lift the rear of the console and work it over the arm. Pull away backwards.
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5. Undo four screws and remove the black box near the mechanism. See first pic. You can now see clearly the problem tab.
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6. It is this tab we are going to modify. Notice the forward angle of the tab.
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7. Using a hammer and a steel punch (long nail about 6'' will work) gently bend the tab backwards until it looks like this. Don't go too far so that the spring doesn't hit the tab at all. The tab is there to stop the spring locking solid on the drum. I could have gone a little bit more but I liked the feel so that's where I left it.
![]()
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What this does is to remove the wasted arm movement and lets the spring clamp the drum sooner therefore activating the drum and pulley sooner.
Check the feel of the e brake arm and how it works. I have mine locking on four clicks and totally solid on five. If your happy it re-assembly time.
Replace the black box.
Lift the arm to max position. Now that the arm locks lower down it is harder to get the console on. You need to push the console deep under the radio fascia area and work the cover over the arm. Not easy, just be patient and wiggle a lot.
Replace console screws.
Replace wires and radio fascia.
Replace wires and front cover.
Do this at your own risk.
Here is a pic of the handbrake mechanism.
The basics of the E brake are as follows. The spring at the front is the return spring for the arm. The center pulley is for the brake cable which you can see lower left and the spring in between the pulley and brake arm is the activation spring, which is the one we are concerned with.
The activation spring is clamped to the arm and is loosely wrapped around a drum which is a part of the pulley. When the E brake arm is raised, the spring tightens and locks on the drum and rotates the pulley which in turn tightens the cable and activates the rear pads.
Now the problem is that there is too much E Brake arm travel before the spring clamps the drum and rotates the pulley. The spring only clamps the drum after about 4 or 5 clicks. The other end of the spring is open ended meaning it is not clamped in any way to the drum. It is held in position by a tab which sets the position and limits the clamping force. It is that tab you need to modify. See diag below.
At first I moved the spring end to the other side of the tab and I had it fully engaged after 2 clicks but wasn't sure what would happen after long term usage and I didn't want the spring to lock solid and lock up my rear brakes as well. So what I decided to do was tap down the tab to let the spring activate the drum sooner and it worked like a charm.
Here are the steps to do this mod.......
1. Remove the front lower console cover by pulling up. Remove the 4X4 switch wires.
2. Remove radio fascia by pulling out gently. Start at the bottom and work up slowly. Remove wires. This is more for the re-assembly than dis-assembly.
3. Remove four screws. One either side the console and two inside the console box.
4. Unzip the cover around the E brake arm. For those whose zipper is broken, just use a safety pin to activate the release clip. Lift the arm to it's max position. Slowly lift the rear of the console and work it over the arm. Pull away backwards.
5. Undo four screws and remove the black box near the mechanism. See first pic. You can now see clearly the problem tab.
6. It is this tab we are going to modify. Notice the forward angle of the tab.
7. Using a hammer and a steel punch (long nail about 6'' will work) gently bend the tab backwards until it looks like this. Don't go too far so that the spring doesn't hit the tab at all. The tab is there to stop the spring locking solid on the drum. I could have gone a little bit more but I liked the feel so that's where I left it.
What this does is to remove the wasted arm movement and lets the spring clamp the drum sooner therefore activating the drum and pulley sooner.
Check the feel of the e brake arm and how it works. I have mine locking on four clicks and totally solid on five. If your happy it re-assembly time.
Replace the black box.
Lift the arm to max position. Now that the arm locks lower down it is harder to get the console on. You need to push the console deep under the radio fascia area and work the cover over the arm. Not easy, just be patient and wiggle a lot.
Replace console screws.
Replace wires and radio fascia.
Replace wires and front cover.
