What Are the Parking Brake Options with Aftermarket Brakes

There’s another option: Pantera Electronics Tesla/Brembo electronic parking brake calipers. You’d think the calipers were expensive but you can buy a pair on eBay for about $150 or less. Most of the calipers are aluminum but later versions are composite. This allows you to eliminate the OEM parking brake handle, bracket, cables, etc. and leave more room for aftermarket seats. Pantera Electronics manufactures the switch/controller and has the parts you need to install the calipers; connectors, cable, etc. 

The Wilwood mechanical caliper (go-kart spot brake) shown is what I adapted in 1998 to our Pantera with altered rear brakes. I made a pair of adapter brackets and cable-directors; the same caliper with a different bracket is what Pantera East sold for Panteras and Vipers for quite a while. IPSCO now sells something similar. Mine works fine with stock brake cables, except there is no anti-rattle spring so with the windows down, you can hear the little pads and backing plates moving around. No worries after 20 yrs of driving. Wilwood also makes an invisible e-brake that is of the early Corvette 2-shoe design built inside the rotor hat sections.

The Wilwood Mechanical Calipers shown above are NOT go-kart spot brake Calipers. The MC4 Parking Brake Caliper is a great performing mechanical parking brake caliper that Wilwood uses for most of their brake kits that don't have the old drum brake shoe design.

Tesla Caliper - as everyone may or may not know, the reason that Tesla calipers are so cheap on eBay (you can find them between $66 a pair, and $150 a pair) is most likely because they came off the 2016 models when they were 53,000 vehicles recalled for parking brake issues.

The cheaper pairs of calipers have the connector housings broken, on the more expensive ones, the connector housings are intact.

How do you find out if the calipers have the plastic gear that may prevent them from being retracted?

Can they be repaired or updated so that this would not be an issue on a retrofit?

I know this Tesla thing is a pretty new modification to our cars, but I’d be pretty irritated if I spent $700 on all the components and mounted it up, and then found an issue with the calipers.

Thanks -

Rocky

Rocky, all of the Tesla Model S PB calipers I've seen on eBay have been taken from wrecked Tesla's. There seems to be a lot of them! The calipers that were exchanged under warranty were supposed to have been destroyed by the servicing dealer. Imagine the liability risk a dealer would suffer if they were taking those "exchanged under recall" calipers and selling them on eBay! That being said, only 5% of them were defective, so if some found their way onto eBay, chances are they're OK. I agree with you; the challenge, buying them on eBay is, receiving undamaged units. The electrical connector is extremely vulnerable and even if it is intact before shipping, if the packaging isn't great, the calipers will be delivered with broken connectors. 

I bought a pair of the later composite PB calipers on eBay for $75 each and they look like brand new units. They came with pads too! I went this route for one simple reason; it allowed me to eliminate the e-brake handle and move my Recaro passenger seat a few inches closer to the console. 

Are you really allowed to change a parking brake electrically operated just like that? I would have thought that if it is required as a safety device the parts would need some kind of approval.

-Sami 

Yes....

In America, it is (supposed to be) “Everything is allowed except that which is forbidden”, vs. “Everything is forbidden except that which is allowed”.

There are very few states anymore that have safety inspections, and I’m not aware of any that force the car to be 100% stock, although they do make you do that for emissions testing....

@rocky posted:

Yes....

In America, it is (supposed to be) “Everything is allowed except that which is forbidden”, vs. “Everything is forbidden except that which is allowed”.

I thought it might be some sort of safety issue to use a third party controller, your DIY wiring between controller and calipers and operate them with a $0.50 rocker switch...

After all, you live in the promised land of lawsuits...

-Sami

Maybe that’s why we have so many lawsuits...

But if you are going to make that argument, than any of the other parking brake offerings would be similarly bad....

This is a PARKING brake, after all.

And if it holds, there’s no reason for a lawsuit.  But if your 50 year old stock brake fails on Lombard St. in San Francisco, you are probably in just as much trouble....

Electric parking brakes work like power windows. They stay in whatever state you leave them in. Power is only required to change the state. If you set the brake, then have a controller/switch failure, or a dead battery, the PB will stay set. 

Can you park on Lombard St.??? 

I doubt it. It was mere hyperbole!

A quick update on the Tesla Brake install I am currently doing for 6997. The calipers are all in and fit well with no real clearance issues. The original calipers are flipped to the front and sway sides to keep the bleeder up. Slightly longer brake lines are required. The Pantera Electronics  controller works well and the EPB units set and reset well . And there is no way they are moving once they are set ! The box fits nicely under the center console. I think this is a good option if you are sick of the lousy manual park brakes letting go on you.

Now where to mount that pesky push button .......?

Percy, one possible trouble spot. The placement of that black box under the center armrest: one guy put such a box at that point, and when he also velcro-ed a CB radio on top of the armrest and keyed the transmitter, the box shut off from induced voltage! And since it was an intermittent failure (only happened when the transmitter was keyed), it took weeks to find it.... I don't know whats in your black box nor if you use CB radios, but it can happen if things line up just right.

Thanks Bosswrench. Great observation of a situation that would absolutely drive you mental trying to find it !

Just one comment on the install is to go with the optional cable and plug pack supplied by PE but ask Jon to provide some extra pins for the plugs just in case . I stuffed up the pins in the plug assembly to the Brembos initially and had to redo them and they have to be absolutely perfect. I could not get those plugs here so was waiting while Jon sent me extra pins. Also you might request another 3m of cable over the standard loom run offered . That would give you enough length to get to the front firewall next to the covered area in front of the brake cylinder. The box could then be easily mounted there away from spilt coffee and CB radios. That would have been my ideal but I just could not make the distance. That would be a better spot with shorter runs for access to the fuse panel power and the push button mounting . Next time I would also get a four pin male/female plug supplied at the get go to make the disconnect on the push button easier.

I have also installed the PE cooling controller relay with the separate 35 A resettable breaker which feeds directly off the battery . This had freed up fuse 11 for the original Fan  relay circuit so I was able to repurpose that fuse for a 20A dedicated run for the Brembos. You will need a 20A protected circuit for this.

Just a couple of things to think about if you consider doing it.

I have a couple of 5w handheld units that I use car to car which I find ideal. There is already  enough gizmos cluttering up every nook and cranny!

Davidnunn - one question - you mentioned  you cut the e-brake mount boxing out ? Did you seal the floor recess ?

Do you have any pictures of what it looked like after you did it ?

Percy,

Yes, I cut out the e-brake lever mounting "box" then filled in all the holes. I have lowered floor pans so the holes I needed to fill in were different than the ones you'd have in a stock floor pan.   

Why does the Pantera caliper get moved to the front and replaced with the Tesla? Why can't it be mounted in front?

Why can't the Tesla caliper just replace the Pantera caliper entirely?