Short handle E-Brake Options

[95st-celica]

has anyone put a shorter E-Brake handle in? if so where did you get it? pictures would be great...i really want to do this since our stock e-brake handle is soooo damn long.

[Jeunesse]

I think this will be a really good mod for our cars.

[95st-celica]

me too...i wanna see if i can get my hands on an older tsx E-brake handle...i was lookin at my cousions and that would be perfect..its nice and short...i really dont want to go with an aftermarkt one off ebay because they look pretty cheap

[richee3]

I think this will be a really good mod for our cars.

x2. I have to pull mine up really high just to get the brake to grab, even after I tightened the cable. Almost as high as the handle will go. Pictures of the TSX handle?

[Jeunesse]

Richee where did you adjust the cable, I did mine and its fine, doesn't have to go way up like before.

[richee3]

Richee where did you adjust the cable, I did mine and its fine, doesn't have to go way up like before.

PM'd.

[silver6gc]

you guys seriously adjusted your parking brake cables? come on...adjut it the right way...adjust the brakes themselves...its not hard

[BonzaiCelica]

ya. exactly what he said. For drum brakes i know how to tighten. Tighten them on my bro's 5 speed camry. Alot better and keeps the car from moving when e-brake is on. But is there a different e-brake we can get thats aftermarket. That has a leather boot and a carbon like handle.

[richee3]

you guys seriously adjusted your parking brake cables? come on...adjut it the right way...adjust the brakes themselves...its not hard

No idea how to do that. I'm not mechanically smart like that.

ya. exactly what he said. For drum brakes i know how to tighten. Tighten them on my bro's 5 speed camry. Alot better and keeps the car from moving when e-brake is on. But is there a different e-brake we can get thats aftermarket. That has a leather boot and a carbon like handle.

I have disc brakes all around, so there's another difference, although like Jeunesse told me in his PM, they can still be adjusted. And who makes that e-brake handle? I've got some research to do...

[Galcobar]

Actually, adjusting the parking brake cable may be required if it has loosened, has been removed, the brakes changed, etc.

The drum brakes are self-adjusting (after initial installation and adjustment), so if your e-brake handle is not locking properly, it may be the cable which requires adjustment.

It's fairly simple, actually. Remove the centre console to expose the full length of the handle. There will be two nuts -- the top nut simply locks the bottom one into place and ensure the setting does not change. Loosen the top nut, then adjust the bottom nut to the point where the brake is fully engaged at seven clicks. Then tighten the top nut down to lock the setting, and re-install the console.

[BloodyStupidDave...]

has anyone put a shorter E-Brake handle in? if so where did you get it? pictures would be great...i really want to do this since our stock e-brake handle is soooo damn long.

Funny that you should post this. It is something I was planning to look at during this break.

[silver6gc]

QUOTE
you guys seriously adjusted your parking brake cables? come on...adjut it the right way...adjust the brakes themselves...its not hard


No idea how to do that. I'm not mechanically smart like that.


QUOTE
ya. exactly what he said. For drum brakes i know how to tighten. Tighten them on my bro's 5 speed camry. Alot better and keeps the car from moving when e-brake is on. But is there a different e-brake we can get thats aftermarket. That has a leather boot and a carbon like handle.


I have disc brakes all around, so there's another difference, although like Jeunesse told me in his PM, they can still be adjusted. And who makes that e-brake handle? I've got some research to do...

the parking brake on the rear discs is a drum in hat design, its inside the rotor and is very easy to adjust

Actually, adjusting the parking brake cable may be required if it has loosened, has been removed, the brakes changed, etc.

The drum brakes are self-adjusting (after initial installation and adjustment), so if your e-brake handle is not locking properly, it may be the cable which requires adjustment.

It's fairly simple, actually. Remove the centre console to expose the full length of the handle. There will be two nuts -- the top nut simply locks the bottom one into place and ensure the setting does not change. Loosen the top nut, then adjust the bottom nut to the point where the brake is fully engaged at seven clicks. Then tighten the top nut down to lock the setting, and re-install the console.

technically your right, they are designed to self-adjust, but I work on Toyotas for a living...they don't self-adjust as fast as they wear out, especially on older cars with dirty or rusty brake hardware, and he has rear discs anyway. and richee3 already adjusted his cable and still has to pull it up high, so he may just have stretched cables if the brake adjustment doesnt fix it.

[richee3]

richee3 already adjusted his cable and still has to pull it up high, so he may just have stretched cables if the brake adjustment doesnt fix it.

Could very well be. My car is getting pretty old now. 11 years old, 140k miles. Could be that I need new brakes, could be stretched cables. I know the front pads have been replaced on it at some point, but I'm not sure about the rears. Anyway, can somebody tell me how to adjust the brakes themselves rather than the cable? I hate having to pull my lever up through my moonroof just to set the brake lol.

[95st-celica]

has anyone put a shorter E-Brake handle in? if so where did you get it? pictures would be great...i really want to do this since our stock e-brake handle is soooo damn long.

Funny that you should post this. It is something I was planning to look at during this break.

yea i need to find somethin smaller..its just way to long...how about 7th gens? are they the same length? i never really took notice to them, or if they would even fit/what they look like..if there shorter and nice lookin i'll make it work

[samir0189]

richee3 already adjusted his cable and still has to pull it up high, so he may just have stretched cables if the brake adjustment doesnt fix it.

Could very well be. My car is getting pretty old now. 11 years old, 140k miles. Could be that I need new brakes, could be stretched cables. I know the front pads have been replaced on it at some point, but I'm not sure about the rears. Anyway, can somebody tell me how to adjust the brakes themselves rather than the cable? I hate having to pull my lever up through my moonroof just to set the brake lol.

Take off the rear wheel. On the rotor, there should be a rubber cap in the drum/center of the rotor. Take off the rubber cap. Line up the hole so that it points directly at the floor. Get a flat screwdriver that can fit in the hole but still has a decent sized tip.

You'll feel an adjustment screw in there, i don't remember right now if its up or down that you need to go to tighten, but just try to adjust it one way and see you can spin the rotor by hand. If it does not spin anymore, just back out the adjustment til the rotor is free spinning, but not any more than that. And if the rotor still spins when you are adjusting, you're going the wrong way!

This post has been edited by samir0189: Jan 1, 2009 - 11:48 PM

[richee3]

^^^ Awesome! I'm going to Springfield tomorrow to meet up with agentzero0, but when I get home, I'll do this for sure! Thanks, Samir!

Here are a few shots of some other Toyota E-brake handles. Not sure which, if any of these would work. All of these pictures were stlen from Photobucket, none are my own.

This is the interior of a 7th gen, it's the only decent shot I could find with the E-brake handle. It's not too long at all. Looks like it could work.




Early 90's MR2.



This is out of a 2000+ MR2.


This post has been edited by richee3: Jan 2, 2009 - 12:28 AM

[95st-celica]

nice...i like the early style mr2 e-brakes...i think i might be able to get that to work..i like how its looks like its beant and has some shape to it rather then just a long stick bulging out of the center console

[richee3]

nice...i like the early style mr2 e-brakes...i think i might be able to get that to work..i like how its looks like its beant and has some shape to it rather then just a long stick bulging out of the center console

My thoughts exactly. It looks similar to ours, how it is shaped, I mean. The 7th gen looks like it would hit the console in our car, and the 2000+ MR2 pretty much just goes straight out. Now that I look at it, that was a pretty pointless picture to post But I definitely agree. If someone could get their hands on an early MR2 e-brake handle and make it work in out car, I'd love to see it. It looks like a similar texture to what we have, and definitely a similar shape so it would clear the console. I looked at some pictures of the mkIV Supra since it is really similar to out cars in a lot of aspects, but one of those similar aspects is the length of that handle lol.

[samir0189]

come on guys, obviously toyota gave us those extra long ebrake handles so our hands have no chance of slipping off when drifting.

by early 90s mr2, is that the mk1 or the next gen? my local junkyard might have some mk1s, and mayybbeee 1 mk2. i might have to check those out sometime..

surely no one has run off with the ebrake handle.. that would be random..

This post has been edited by samir0189: Jan 2, 2009 - 12:55 AM

[BloodyStupidDave...]

The problem is that like a lot of Toyota/Lexus parts, they aren't designed to be universal.

The Celica handbrake has a specific bolt pattern and bolts to the floor of the car. The old MR2 handbrakes bolt to the side of the transmission tunnel. They are very definately not interchangeable.

It is possible that some other Toyota or Lexus have the same bolt pattern as the Celica or can be modified. The avensis, camry, is200, is250 would be the most likely I would guess (I expect the curren has identical handbrake to us).

Personally, I'm going for modifying the existing brake. I'll try to post some pics over the weekend.