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Ok, I have really been enjoying my newly adjusted P-brake calipers, but all of a sudden, the P-brake pedal began to just release itself and not grab the cog that detains the pedal. I will admit to taking the assembly apart because of this problem, even though it may not have been necessary. It turns out that the p-brake handle actually is the adjustment for the p-brake release lever and, if it is turned in too far, it stops the lever from locking with the cog. That was my case I already took it apart, so here goes:

The entire pedal assembly is actually pretty simple and doesn't have very many parts and the 2 that I have are pretty worn out. It is pretty easy to remove the pedal assembly. Start by completely removing the adjuster nut located under the truck just behind the driver's door. Remove the phillips head screw that holds the brake handle to the dash. There are two 1/2" nuts just below the main wiring harness connector, on the firewall, on the driver's side. There is a single 1/2" on the inside, on the upper part of the pedal assembly. You can see the hole for it in the pic with the flashlight in it I use a 1/4" drive ratchet and socket without extension on all three, pretty easy. There is a single wire to disconnect, it goes to the switch that turns the brake light on (on the dash). The worst part is getting the p-brake cable to come free of the pedal assembly. I try to open up a bit, the little clamp thingy that holds it onto the pedal assembly and just tug on it until it comes out. more to come:

 

I then took a grinder and carefully ground off the expanded ends of the 2 pins that both holds it all together and also serves as the pivot points for the pedal and lock mechanism. Be careful not to lose the spring that sits on top of the little cog lever. It turns out that the little rocking lever that detains the cog and pivots on the smaller of the 2 pins was all wallowed out. I filled the hole with my mig welder and redrilled the hole. This took me 4 tries to get it right. I then clamped it all back together, to take out all of the play. I then welded the washers to the posts, you have to be careful with the smaller one not to weld the levers together.


When I got it back together, It would not catch and hold the pedal. I almost committed suicide, but instead I took a close look at it and saw that the bigger lever from the release handle was keeping the little lever with the spring from engaging the cog. I realized that the handle was turned in too far and was the problem, Soooooooooooo… In some ways I feel like an idiot, but the pedal assembly feels brand new…Mark

 

This should be in the Sticky.

 

Thanks guys ...I couldn't believe that that handle is an adjustment, but it sure is...Mark

 

Stuck!

 

As usual, Thank You David

 

I was thinking about this and I remembered that the first symptom of the P-brake handle being out of adjustment was that the brake would release whenever I opened the hood. I went for quite a while putting my foot on the P-brake pedal every time that I opened the hood. If that is happening or the brake is just popping up by itself, just give the P-brake handle a turn or 2 counterclockwise and you should be golden...Mark

 

Does your P-brake pedal move closer to the side panel when it is applied? It is working fine, I am just checking that it is right...Mark

 

Something to remember when you release the P brake is to press on the pedal enough to take the load off and then use your foot to let it off gently while holding the handle.
I've seen it happen that when the pedal is allowed to slam up by pulling the handle, the adjuster cable jumps off it's guide on the rear shoe from the rebound.

 

That is very true, my original pedal assembly beat the rubber stop to death, it just fell off. My question is if the pedal ends up closer to the side panel when it is depressed, like it is not going straight down, but towards the side a bit...Mark