Parking Brake Issues

[snpaul22]

Hey there. I'm new to this forum and also a new Jeep owner. I have a 6-speed manual 3.8L 2010 Wrangler Unlimited Sahara. I have had issues with my parking brake since purchasing it. I took it to the dealership to get it fixed. They said nothing was wrong. I told them there was so they took it back in and said they tightened the cable. I'm tired of dealing with the dealership and I am resorting to fixing it myself.

Basically, when the lever is pulled up, it doesn't engage smoothly. There's a point at which the lever gives and then catches again when engaging. It doesn't fully engage and the parking brake light doesn't come on (parking brake light does work as it comes on when dashboard lights cycle during engine start up cycle). When parked on a slope, the parking brake doesn't hold and the vehicle rolls. When parked on a steep enough slope, it still rolls even when left in gear. As you can imagine, that would be a problem lol.

After coming across this problem, I started looking through forums and found the parking brake issue seems to be a common problem and that a lot of people just go in and manually re-tighten it all the time. I don't want to have to continually go in and re-tighten the cable. Anyone have any good suggestions for fixing or replacement? I was hoping maybe there was a good aftermarket parking brake solution that could solve this. Thanks in advanced.

[beat1078]

Have you pulled the wheels and inspected the components?
put it up on jack stands and pull the wheels and calipers and have someone pull the lever one click at a time and get a good look at everything.

in my experience dealerships don't want to spend time on something that may be a warranty work issue so they play the game a couple times until you complain to the owner.

[snpaul22]

Ya I have learned that I can't stand the dealerships. I would not recommend South Hills Chrysler to anyone. They did everything in their power to not acknowledge my warranty. They really know how to piss off their customers.

I did solve one of the problems today. I finally got around to taking out the center console to inspect the lever. The light was coming on because the wire was unplugged from the switch. Also, it looked like it's been tampered with before (bought it used). I think the reason I'm feeling that give when I pull up is because I think there's a few broken teeth on it. I'm planning on doing a full brake overhaul - throw on some slotted and drilled rotors, bigger calipers/pads, longer lines for lift kit, etc. I'm just going to replace the lever and change out the hardware inside the drum with some aftermarket kit then.