brake drum on 18-case

I have read alot of threads about people having a drum brake on the back of their spicer 18-Tcase. I have a 69 with the 18 case, so why does mine not have one?? is it because of the overdrive unit?

 

I believe later models (post 1964 maybe?) had the emergency brake moved to the rear drums instead of at the rear transmission output. My 68' Jeepster had them at the drums. My 55' CJ5 has them at the output of the T case.

 

Brake stayed on T-case through '71 on CJ models AFAIK. Likely your case had been replaced at some point or someone removed the e brake. Is your e brake at the rear brake drums? OD has nothing to do with it.

 

Interesting, I was just wondering about that, have read about so many others with it and began to wonder if mine was missing somthing.
Thanks. There isnt a E-brake on my jeep anywhere, rear drums or the t-case. If I were going to install one, where would be best to put it, the t-case or the rear drums??

 

As far as the question whether to put the emergency brake on the back of the transfer case or in the rear wheels themselves, each location has its advantages.

If the wheels run through deep water and the rear shoes don't seem to hold and slow you down, it is an advantage to have the e-brake at the back of the transmission, because that location may be drier and the shoes hold better.

If you are in 4 wheel drive, the transfer case location brakes all four wheels.

In this location, I would consider this more of a parking brake than an emergency brake. I once back in my younger foolish days, wondered what would happen if I pulled the e-brake while going along on a slippery surface (ice and snow) at 30 miles an hour. Well, I shoved in the clutch and pulled the e-brake. This locked the drive shaft, but the wheels on the right continued to go clockwise and the wheels on the left went counterclocwise, immediately spinning the jeep around, and nearly rolled it. By nearly, It got onto 2 wheels and I corrected situation before it rolled completely over. This wasn't on Diggerjeep with dual wheels, that was with my old 59 CJ-5with a full metal top, and narrow wheels back in '69.

So the trick here is if you are going to use the drum brake on the transfer case when you are moving, keep the handle in the rotated-release position, so you can push it back in easily. Pump the brake, don't just pull it on.


The e-brake at the wheels is a much safer system in my opinion, and it locks only the back wheels. It can be applied when moving (again, hold onto the release handle and pump the pedal, don't just lock it up).

http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/images/smilies/driving.gif

 

thanks for the info, I am going to really look into this as summer aproches. will probably do which ever one is simplier to install. I will check out the site you put up

 

I'm not a Jeep expert but my guess is the transfer case e brake is simpler to install. If you have it to go the back wheels, you would have to change your backing plates (I assume) and brake shoe setup.

 

I re did my t-case e-brake. Only place I was able to find the parts was with www.hermtheoverdriveguy.com . Pretty sure this was the stock set up in your 69.

 

Dana 18’s are notorious for leaking from the rear bearing housing and if gear oil fouls the drum driveline brake it becomes useless because it loses its ability to create friction, i.e. braking power.
Having posted that I’m getting ready to put one on mine. There are a few tricks to getting the case sealed up that I’m going to do while I freshen this one with new gaskets and seals.
Also, just because I haven’t seen it posted, a driveline brake on the transfer case makes for more braking power than ones at the corners because you multiply the force it exerts by the gear ratio of the axles. It’s the same principle as how gear ratio affects the engines leverage over the wheels.

 

No matter what you do if you go with the stock T/C brake....just expect it not to brake very well. I can attest that I jacked with the rear seal 6 times trying to get it to stop leaking because it made the shoes all greasy. When I finally got the rear output to stop leaking, I adjusted out the brakes and it still rolled with brake engaged. THEN the shoes started grabbing the drum and jerked the jeep every time I put it in neutral. I had the adjusting wheels all the way out and they still grabbed the drum. Right now, I just took the shoes out and they are going to stay out untill I get motivation to work on that again.

Problem is, everytime you need to work in that area, you have to drain the oil out of the T/C, take the rear nut off and use a hub puller to get the drum off.

 

Patrick, I think your jeep must have been built in the middle of the week. I think mine was built on a Friday at 4:00 when everyone was trying to go home.

 

Has anyone installed a floor mounted, hand brake lever assembly from another vehicle and connected to the T-case brake? Seems that it would have much more power due to ergonomic leverage. You can pull up much harder (because you are sitting) than you can hold yourself stationary and pull back.

 

Good point....bunny with a pancake

 

Leaving the e break on the transfer case gives you more grip because you have the diff gears to multiply the holding power.

Here is something that you may find interesting

http://www.x-eng.co.uk/X-BrakeRR.asp

 

You might consider switching to a disk for the t-case brake.

The M38A1 e-brake handle is between the seats, isn't it?

I have been thinking about installing the e-brake lever assembly from a VW Bug (air-cooled) in mine.

 

Here ya go

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...8ga49-34Dg&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:17,s:0

Still a fan of the handle between the seats over the dash mounted

 

Yup, my 1968 M38A-1 Cdn2 has the e-brake handle mounted between the seats, with a solid rod going down to the lever on the e-brake assembly. BUT, I haven't figured out how to make it work after installing the overdrive on the Dana 18 case -

 

Don’t know how good it’s going to work but this is the handle I’ve got and plan to use.

http://store.colemans.com/cart/emergency-brake-handle-p-721.html