Well I’m jumping into another feasibility study. This time dealing with the parking brake lever. Other than for nostalgia, I’ve never been a big fan of the stock hand brake in the truck. I’m even less happy with it since the addition of the deep tufted side panels, which required chopping off an inch or two from the end of the lever to keep from damaging the upholstery.
Back in 1969 Vietnam however, I became a fan of the hand brake used in virtually every military vehicle I can remember encountering. M38 Jeeps, M151 Fords, and military issue Jeep Wagoneer trucks all had them. Until recently I never knew anything about the history or production of the device, I just liked it because there was no release button, and parking brake cable tension could be adjusted while sitting in the cab by turning the handle cap. I thought it was such a clever design I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t standard in every domestic vehicle.
Here’s a bit of history on how it came into existence:
http://orschelnproducts.com/history-2/
In doing further research, I discovered it was also used in Dodge trucks for a number of years. Here’s one example. Although it appears functional, I certainly don’t care for the mounting angle:
Currently there are dozens of versions available on Ebay and various military surplus sites.
This design looks promising:
So I’ll be doing some measuring to determine which model is easiest to adapt. I want it to mount in the factory orientation pointing left when released, and in alignment with the steering column when under tension. If I can make this work, and once fitted and all the details are worked out, I’ll either paint the mechanism high gloss black or go ahead and have it chromed to draw attention to it as a special feature.