As many of us around here are fully aware, the stock parking brake leaves much to be desired, especially when they're wore out. I have seen a few different setups, and was wondering what I should go with. I am pretty attached to the original park brake handle, and would like to keep that if at all possible.

Rebuild original. Simple enough I think, but where would I even find parts to do this?

Go with a manual caliper and disc brake in stock location. I've seen this done, but can't seem to find any as I look now.. (I'm not great with the search feature on this forum)

Hook up the lever to the park brake cables in the Dana 60 I swapped in. I'm looking most seriously at this as a good difficulty/results option.

Anything different? I'm open to ideas!

 

I would hook up the original handle to the Dana, I will be doing a similar setup hooking up the original handle to a GM 10 bolt rear. I am not planning on using the bellcrank setup that was mounted on the frame crossmember, cable connections only.

 

I hooked Lokar cables and handle (between the seats) to my 8.8 rear end that has disc brakes and a drum EB on each wheel. Works great and I will have a center console with hinged access to the EB handle as another small theft deterrent. I liked the idea of having two cables that come to the middle for a simple hook up, so I removed the original EB lever.

 

I used a custom cable from a push pull company needed a new cable on one side anyway



Used half Chevy half ford cable

 

Like Topmoo I used the Lokar cables and handle. I am very pleased with the setup.

 

[QUOTE=fladoodle;15585715

Hook up the lever to the park brake cables in the Dana 60 I swapped in. I'm looking most seriously at this as a good difficulty/results option.

Anything different? I'm open to ideas![/QUOTE]

I've always liked the brake handle as they existed on these larger trucks. Something you can get your hand on and pull if necessary.
When I made the engine swap and auto transmission into my F4 I fabricated a bracket to hold the brake handle to the frame cross member. I used a brake cable from a later model F350 to connect my brake handle mechanism to the original brake cables of the Dana 70. Works great with plenty of force to lock the brakes.
I'll look for pictures.