Parking Brake System: Description and Operation

DESCRIPTION

The parking brake consists of the following components:

- Foot-operated parking brake lever *

- Cables (front, left rear, right rear)

- Cable equalizer

- Caliper with Integral Parking Brake (IPB)

* Right-Hand-Drive Export models feature a hand-operated parking brake lever.

The parking brake lever is an automatic-adjusting type that continuously applies minimal tension to the parking brake cables to keep them in adjustment at all times.

The front cable extends from the lever to the parking brake cable equalizer. The equalizer joins the front cable to the left and right rear cables that extend to the individual rear calipers with Integral Parking Brake (IPB). The parking brake cables are made of flexible steel cable.

The brake caliper used for the foundation brakes features an Integral Parking Brake (IPB) which combines a mechanical parking brake function with a conventional rear caliper.

This caliper features a lever attached to a shaft on the outside of the caliper. The lever uses a ball-ramp mechanism to mechanically apply piston clamp force to the rear rotor when the parking brake lever is applied. As the lever and shaft rotate, the ball-ramp interface causes the shaft to lift and the piston to travel toward the rotor.

The IPB includes an automatic adjuster mechanism that keeps the mechanical park brake mechanism in contact with the piston as the pads wear. The auto-adjuster is linked to the piston through a friction clutch that is used to detect pad wear.