emergency brake

[GUILLERMOARIAST]

Hello, i have a Blazer 1980 with mechanic transmission. I recently bought the truck and the emergency brake is not working.

I know how to apply the emergency brake (with the pedal), but i would like to know if when i release the brake with the puller: does it releases the brake suddenly or i could be capable to do it as quick (or slow) as i want?.

I question that because when i am driving on a slope road and stop in front of traffic lights; it's difficult for me to keep the truck inmmobile and do not crash other cars. This job is easy with my compact car, because i release the hand brake as quick as i want.

I'm thinking on replace this pedal and puller with a car like hand brake.

I hear ideas or comments.

[Bowtie Bomber]

Have you checked the cable linkage underneath you blazer? Same thing happened to me cause the emergency brake cable and spring and such was rusted really bad. If it is rusted, Spray it all down with PB Blaster or WD40 if you have any.

Also it could be your parking rear brakes that are causing it.

Just throwing out possibilities.

[JJSZABO]

I know what you are talking about.  All my manual transmissions had hand brakes where I could let off as much rear brake as I needed when trying to start on an incline.  If your emergency brake is like mine it releases "all at once".  Is there a way to disable the spring on the brake pedal - but then again you would not be able to control the rate of release.  I'll have to look at mine closer.

Good Question!

[Blazin]

Why not just use the clutch to keep it from rolling backward?

[Captkaos]

That is what I was thinking?  You have a clutch in there, that is what it was designed for.
You would have to modify the whole pedal to make it slowly release and then the control would be on your foot, which should be on the clutch releasing when you are ready to go. 

[Redneckchevy]

Only time i ever heard of using a E brake on a hill was when i was going to truck driving school..And thats do to the fact of having 80,000lbs pulling you back down it lol...But in a small truck a clutch will hold you in place with no effort at all

[JJSZABO]

I was taught to never use the clutch for "holding" your position while on an incline.  I was taught that slipping the clutch causes premature clutch wear......just my two cents

[Redneckchevy]

I have been doing it for years now and iv never had to replace a clutch even...only time i replace it was when i pulled the engine...no hot spots on the flywheel or nothing...Now iv also been known to hold my right heel on the brake and my toes on the gas...

[Captkaos]

For the little about of time that that comes up, you aren't going to wear the clutch out.  When I was taught how to drive I was parked on a STEEP hill and told you can't drive until you can make this Jeep sit here on this hill without using the brake.  Riding the clutch will wear one out, but hooding it on the hill won't.

I had a clutch in my 454 pickup that was in there for about 7 years, when I pulled it out, it was fine, and I ABUSED the truck.  If the splines were the same, I would use it again...

[Redneckchevy]

Sounds like a great way to learn.....My wife wants to learn soon..Id try that with her but i got a funny fealing my next post would be
Welp tryed it ..My truck is at the bottom of a cliff..Escaped death by jumping out window..

[GUILLERMOARIAST]

Ok, i understood, the emergency brake releases all at once. Thus, i am forced to convert this pedal brake to a car-like hand brake. Fortunely where i live there are several parts stores.

Thanks everybody

[velojym]

I don't see the problem. I have the Muncie 4 speed in my '87 K5 Blazer, and I don't have any trouble on the hills at all.
If I'm approaching a controlled intersection where I figure I'll be sitting a while, I'll release the clutch and hold
the Blazer with the service brake. When the light is about to change, I re-engage the clutch to hold the truck and
I'm ready to go on green.
I've driven 18 wheelers since about '91, and the only time I've had troubles with clutch wear was when I was training
new drivers. Otherwise, never a problem. I didn't wear out tires, brakes, or clutches (or, for that matter, clutch brakes... don't
fully depress the pedal when you're only shifting), and didn't need a hand brake for the hills.

This is also the case in my 2000 Sonoma, which also uses a foot-actuated parking brake.

[gezn2]

The emergency brakes on your Blazer are pretty simple, just some cables and a few springs, but the stock pedal will release fully when you pull the handle.
Earlier models did use a lever mounted under the dashboard that would probably work similar to the way you want, my Grandpas' '67 had one.
You've got some good mechanics in Peru that could make it work, but you might be better off to buy a big-truck driver some beers and get some lessons in the way they do clutch-work and unlearn some of the habits you picked up driving small cars 
I can't remember the last time I used my handbrake when driving a manual transmission, but it *is* an art that people have to be taught