Parking Brake Recommendations

Or go directly to IPSCO, Mark Johnson, who makes them in the first place:

http://www.ipsco.org/Pantera%2.../parkingbrakekit.htm

Larry

I've installed this setup. Anything I can help with?

I think Pantera Performance was in the same ballpark for the units, but then you add about $100 or so for the cable (With IPS, it sounds like they recommend vendors for the cable rather than carry it themselves). Ultimately, they'd both come out around $700.

Precision Performance carries the stock replacement cable for $159.00.

I guess it boils down to how much benefit there is to the very cool looking, and I assume better gripping, brake from IPS, or just replacing the cable and using the $500 I save on gas, or racing belts, or a new steering wheel, or ...

Since I've only had the car for a short while, I'm not sure with whether the stock parking brake design is worth the investment in a new cable, or if it will work for all of a week after being adjusted before it needs to be adjusted again.

Before we go too far let's look at what you currently have.....

You mention stock calipers, so are you using stock brakes, or aftermarket brakes that retain the stock caliper as a parking brake only?

If your brakes are upgraded are you using stock (0.81" thickness) rotors?

How much do you rely on the parking brake for anything? FWIW I don't have one at all in two of my cars and what's there is pretty non functrional on the other two.

Wilwood makes a mechanical spot caliper that is very similar to the IPSCO unit and they sell for $60 ea. at Summit, part #'s 120-2280 and 120-2281 (left & right). They are for 0.81" rotors, but you can easily widen them by fabricating a spacer block for rotors that are wider.

Bear in mind the spot calipers (Wilwood or IPSCO) are basically Kart brakes and have a much smaller pad contact area than your exisiting calipers. I wouldn't rely on either of them for parking on much of a gradient.

Julian

The calipers shown are Wilwood mechanicals made for go-karts, and it's easy to adapt stock Pantera cables to them. For my method, you simply shorten the cable jackets on the caliper ends by about 3/4" so there's enogh room for the Wilwood lever's travel. This is a 5-minute Dremel-job. I've been running these as legal e-brakes since late '97 (see article in POCA Newsletter Aug '98), and a few others have done the same. Pantera East has sold a kit for years (different from my rig) that includes mounting brackets, top-slider mounts, bolts & nuts along with a DeTomaso logo etched in the powder-coated calipers. His rig may not need the cable jacket cutting. He sells a similar assembly for Dodge Vipers (different logo). Last time I called P-East('09), it was $500 or so complete. Note their website is closed down but the phone works wonderfully well.

OK, here's my plan of action:
1) Buy a new parking brake cable from one of the vendors (approx. $160). Install and see how it does ... if it holds and releases properly and doesn't require adjustment every couple of weeks, I'm all done.
2) If the cable alone doesn't do it, then I grab the POCA article and spend $120 on the Wilwood units ... I don't need powder coated and etched, although if I get ambitious maybe a trip to the local trophy shop for some engraving might be in store :-)

Thanks for the advice folks, I know running without the parking brake isn't an issue for a lot of folks, and technically I got by without it last year, but it's one of those things I would like to have working so I can run the the car on the slight incline of my driveway and be able to get out and tweek the carb (yes, I also chock the wheels, but the brake would hold her while I take the chocks away).

Thanks for the input!