I am now in the process of installing a Jeep Comanche foot actuated parking brake into my 1996 XJ. Why, some of you may ask?

1. My factory emergency brake is already broken.
2. It will give me more room in the middle of the center console where the factory lever is currently located.
3. It will give me more room in the interior of the center console (I have plans for that)
4. Because it's a relatively easy mod and I want my jeep to be different, but maintain the stock look.


I have aquired a factory MJ parking brake, release handle, and cover for the factory handle.

Things To Do:

1. The parking brake needs the rust removed and painted. It works well but it needs greased and the springs could definitely be replaced.

2. The release lever I have doesn't have the cable attached. It is a good start but I'm probably going to source a new one. I have no concerns about it mounting because I already installed a Comanche lower dash. That mod can be found here:

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/modified-96-lower-dash-panel-263216/

3. I have to remove the old emergency brake lever from the center console. Like I said before, this will give me more room inside and outside the center console. Along side this, I have found a 3D printed block off plate off Ebay for around $10. I may link this part of build in an existing forum I have, which can be found here:

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/pre-96-center-console-armrest-modification-263129/

4. After all of that, I have to physically mount the new brake assembly and run a new cable, which is eaiser said then done. There's already one bolt through the inner fender coming into the foot well, so that's where I'll start, and then I'll mount the other two bolts similarly. I will also have to relocate the parking brake switch.

5. I have a 1996 with power locks windows and mirrors. Because it's a 96, it also has OBD II which means there's a lot of wires behind the kick panel so I'm sure that's going to prove challenging.

6. MJ's have a different kick plate. All that's different is a circle cut out of it to clear the parking brake. I can simply order a MJ one off ebay, but I think I will just cut mine appropriately.

7. And finally, from the factory all MJ brake assemblies do not have a cover so I think I'm going to fabricate one out of sheet metal and have it bolt on using the parking brake assembly mounts. If I do that I will most likely mount it with only the rear two bolts because the firewall bolt that is already there from the factory is hard to get to because of the fuse box.

Another option I have to making the cover is to order a MJ kick plate and use that. Then I'll take the factory XJ kick plate and cut a portion of it so it is made out of the same material. I could even go to the extent of plastic welding both pieces together. I'm not sure what I'll end up doing. But we will see when we get there.

There were a few posts about this and even a couple YouTube videos but none that were super in-depth on how they actually did it. I will try to take as many photos as possible and explain what I'm doing, and try to answer commonly asked questions beforehand. Thanks for reading, fell free to leave a comment!

 

Pretty sure the police package with column shifter had foot operated parking brake.

 

Your absolutely right. However, those are pretty hard to come by, and when you do they are probably already stripped

 

If the parkbrake pedal assembly is the same for MJ and Police Package, chances are the mounting points are already on the XJ.

 

There's only 1 out of 3 mounting points in mine. But mine is a 1996, which is the last year of the old bodystyle, so I'm not sure when the police packages were ran.

 

So before I do anything else, this parking brake needs cleaned!


I bought a 6 liter ultrasonic cleaner from amazon. The brake assembly fits well but will need flipped to get 100% coverage. Also bought some white vinegar and a gallon of WD-40.


Here is a good picture of how it looked before. Hopefully I can clean up all of the rust.


​​​​​​​I took apart what was able to be taken apart and cleaned the large amounts of grease off. I did not want to cut the rivets or undo anything that was permanent. It the assembly needs adjusted or worked, I'll cross that bridge after its cleaned.


First bath was white vinegar for 30 minutes at 50° Celsius. As soon as turned it on it immediately started to do the lord's work.

I chose to use white vinegar because the acidic level is fairly low, it's cheap, readily available, and I think it's going to do a great job at cleaning the parts (while also removing some rust) before I use the expensive WD-40. I'm hoping this will prep it well enough. Stay with me! More to follow!

 

I'm actually really surprised at the quality of work this is providing!

 

I think it is a good idea. I agree with the consol having better uses. I will be doing something similar myself

 

Yeah I couldn't find much content on it. When you do yours, post pictures!

 

It came out pretty good. Spent about a total of 2 hours in the machine. I had only used the white vinegar. I'll run it through the WD-40 tomorrow.






After I finish cleaning it I'll apply some self etching printer, top coat, clear coat, wheel bearing grease, and WD-40 white lithium grease to the hard to reach areas. Most likely I'll replace the springs.

 

I will be doing something a little different. It will be a brake on the driveline on my Atlas tcase. But a foot pedal will be involved. And be awhile until I do it

 

I'm excited to see the outcome

 

Be careful....a brake on the driveline is great until you have a broken axle with an open diff.....or a missing driveshaft

 

I will be taking care of that too

 

I'm going to add a fender washer and grease point here that can be serviced from inside the cab. I plan on over-engineering this so I will never have to take it apart again.


Rivet head ground down to disassemble the bracket.


Smaller rivet. I only wanted to remove as little as possible. I didn't want to do this one, but it was necessary.