[mhastings04]

I have a 2005 F350 Crew Cab Long Bed, and have been having problems with the parking brake for over 2 years now. It's getting worse, so I decided it's time to try and figure it out. When I go to set the parking brake, it usually goes to the floor. But, if I release it, then reset it, it will usually grab. Sometimes it take setting, releasing, and resetting a few times for it to grab. When it grabs, it holds strong, and starts to grab the brake at about 1/4 - 1/2 way through the pedal stroke. Any ideas what could be causing this? All 4 brakes are relatively new...

 

[510guy]

the park brake has nothing to do with the service brakes. the park brake is a small set of drum brakes within the rear brake rotors. either the shoes are worn out or the hardware is shot. i had an axle seal leak that made my brake not work.

 

[nccatfan]

Park brakes are inside your rear disc brakes (shoe and drum set-up. Inner area of the rotor acts as the drum). Don't know whats going on tho. Mine does it sometimes too... waiting for rear pads to wear out before I dig into it.

 

[Young-SC-Owner]

all four? Do you mean the shoes? In no way am I trying to insult you, but the Ebrake is inside the rear rotors, Now that ive said that, (i assume you knew that anyways but ya never know here) Next time it goes to the floor..DONT reset it, crawl under the dash with a flashlight, and look at the cable on the ebrake pedal, it may have a problem returning when you release the parking brake, and when you push it again, the wire follows the correct path

 

[GregsSD]

Yes, I think the problem is in the pedal mechanism. Mine does the same thing.
Try spraying some lube on it to see if it solves the problem, I keep forgetting to try that on mine.

 

[mhastings04]

Thanks everyone. I will check the cable in the morning. ...and Young-SC-Owner, I don't get offended when people call me out on my ignorance. If I didn't read these forums and ask questions, I wouldn't know much, if anything, about this truck. So, all I can do is be grateful for the vast amount of info available here. Thanks again!

 

[ridesdirt]

I will agree with what everyone has said. The e-brake is a separate system from your "regular" brakes. The e-brake system is 100% mechanical, so if it works sometimes, there is a problem with the pedal or cable system that actuates the brakes. My guess would be that the cable is popping out of the socket in the foot pedal when the brakes don't engage. Start looking there...

 

[mikeandmary]

I've replaced a few e-brake pedal assemblies before, its been a while, but i seem to remember having that issue slightly before they went completely. Also sometimes it would set, but "pop" right when you got it to about where you wanted it.

there's a little coil spring in there that breaks, it's comically small, given the repurcussions if it fails at the wrong time you'd think it would be more substantial. if i recall, i could still get it to work 10% of the time if the 2 broken ends happened to line up correctly.

does it still ratchet or click as it goes to the floor? if not thats your problem. non-servicable, costs $130 or so, pretty easy swap out. if it is ratcheting, i believe there is another spring in there, forget what it does, but unless your cable is slipping out of track, i'm guessing you need a new pedal assy.

 

[mhastings04]

Crap! I'm not getting emails when people reply to my posts... Hmmmm... Gotta look into that. Thanks for the reply, Mike! My brake pedal does not ratchet or click. It just smoothly pushes down. It has tension toward the bottom, but sometimes it has nothing at all and goes to the floor. The cable is not slipping either... Must be a bad assembly like you said.

 

[fharen]

hmmmm... my pedal feels decent, it just goes to floor with a reasonable amount of resistance, but pads don't grab.

 

[Iron2]

It is the Pedal assembly. There is a spring steel coil that is suppose to grab the hub when it senses tension on the cable. This is so it auto adjust, but after a while it become intermittent. I pulled the assembly apart, pulled the coil off and built my own adjuster onto the drum. Works like a champ.