I parked my truck in my driveway and left the engine on so it would warm up while I loaded some stuff in the back to go to work. My driveway is on a hill but I parked in such a way that it wasn't too far on the slope and my brake should hold (So I thought)

While I was loading my truck the CG shifted and I started to roll down my driveway. The garage door was open and my 05 Suburban was parked inside. I jumped out of the back of my truck in attempt to gain access to the cab to hit the brakes but it was too late.

With my tailgate down I crashed into the door frame of my garage (Just missing my Suburban). I knocked the King Stud off the bottom plate and pushed the frame of the garage in about 4 inches. My tailgate is a total loss and so is my bumper.

I am thankful my kids where inside the house getting ready for school and no one was hurt except me when I sprained my ankle jumping out of my truck.

I was planning on replacing my tailgate and rear bumper anyway but I wanted to do it on my terms. I can fix the garage door frame pretty easily. (I do carpentry as a hobby) If anyone has a tailgate in good shape let me know. I'll be hitting up the junk yards this weekend.









I just added the rear disk brake conversion to my list of things to do with my truck.

 

Well wow. At least no one was hurt. Only thing I can suggest is pick n pull early and often. It's around $500.00 for a repop from
Dennis carpenter so it's worth a look at PNP. Ill keep my eyes peeled in the sac area next time I go.

 

If memory serves me right, some of these units had known problems with coming out of park when they were new.

 

Wow, that sucks looks like you have a nice place. I'd think mint tail gates should be a dime a dozen in Ca. ?

 

they didn't have a problem coming out of park when put in park properly, they had a problem with park not being a very big detent and with owners not getting them all the way in park but the shifter still kinda loitering in the park area.. and that truck can drop into gear any time, if its not in the detent. So there were a lot of lawsuits with people claiming the prnd layout isn't safe, and it should drop from park into neutral cause its safer, and etc. Obviously that never caught on, as my excursion is also prnd. But anyway the original poster has a manual trans so that doesn't really matter. He has to use his E brake if he is parked with the engine running.

My advice, is what I would do with ANY older vehicle, and thats chock it if you park on a hill, regardless of transmission or e brake. I always chock my auto if I'm leaving it parked, the e brake doesn't work.

As for your disc swap, if you try the eldorado caliper swap, a lot of guys find their e brake swap still doesn't work well after that. I think the explorer disc swap has an e brake that works better but I'm still not sure how easy it is to get it working on a truck.

 

With his truck being an 8 lug I'm not sure the exploder stuff can easily be made to fit. A line lock, or driveline brake would be the other options aside from the el dorado (or aftermarket redos) type calipers.

 

brings a tear to my eye.

 

Man Steve, Sorry to hear what happened. Glad no one was badly hurt, that tailgate sure folded on impact.

 

This is exactly why the first thing I did on my current build was replace all of the ebrake/brake components. Aside from my prop valve and ebrake pedal, 100% new brakes, at a total cost of maybe $300. Peace of mind = priceless.

Sorry about your truck and house.

 

Wow, I'm really surprised the tailgate folded up like that. I don't trust my e-brake. It just feels soft. I always engage it but I leave it in 1st for good measure. Sorry about the truck and garage.

 

On the topic of e-brake: I am working on mine ('73 F100) and removing the entire mechanism (pedal and all) would make it easier. It is current hooked up to the ebrake cable, and I have no idea how to remove the clip and retainer from the end of the foot pedal. Any advice?

Also, the plastic bushing that hold the spring back against the release pull broke ages ago and the spring shoots forward. Thus I have to push the release in to engage the brake. Any suggestions on what to use as a replacement? It is hard to work on as the pieces are all riveted together. I has thinking of a split washer glued to the metal stop or whittling a stop out of wood and press fitting it in.

Thanks for the help.

 

I can't remember how to take the things apart but I did it before so it can't be that hard to figure out since I'm a little slow and all.

As for the parts - I've got a e-brake pedal assembly here that's in good shape that I can let go cheap!

 

When parked on a slope, people make the mistake of putting the lever into Park before setting the hand brake, causing the vehicle to creep...just enough, that the parking pawl within the trans locks up tight.

When this occurres, the lever has to be YANKED out of Park, and sooner or later, the individual gate of the detent between Park and Reverse snaps off.

There was no recall on the detent, no Ford "campaign" to replace it. This was caused by human error and this is the first time I've ever heard of anyone suing FoMoCo over this issue.

Where were you in the 1970's? I was a Ford partsman from 1962 thru 1997, so I would be aware if there was any recall...never heard a peep about any lawsuits.

 

Specifically how do you remove the hair pin retainer that hold back the parking cable? I read if you pinch the top with plier it loosens and can be removed but I'm not sure...

 

I'd have to see a pic of what you are talking about to clarify...