Heed Jon B's warning on 2003-2010 emergency brake issue

[Newport Viper]

Yep ....for the second time in 63,000 miles on my 2004 I could hear the ebrake pads grinding as I passed curbs....

Where did the pad go? see inside drivers side pad or lack of below....

Get a hold of Jon B at www.partsrack.com for replacements when you let it go too far like I did... ooooops







Jon's warning below

Fellow Gen 3-4 Owners:

This has been mentioned before, but EVERY WEEK I encounter 3-4 owners who have this "Emergency" Brake problem, and they did NOT know it.

Do you regularly use your Emergency Brake, even if its not an emergency? Parking in your garage, for example? Pulling your E-handle just out of habit? [D6666 does!]

On SRT10s, the automatic adjustment causes the caliper to tighten and often it DRAGS only the inner E-brake pad. It is out-of-sight, and out of mind. Unless you 'test' at sub-walking speeds to see if its dragging, you likley wont know.

Or: put your hand near the rear rotor after a normal drive. Does it 'feel' hotter than it should? As hot as the fronts feel?
You may be dragging your E-pads! Within a few thousand miles, you will destroy the thin E-pad, and then eat the inner rear rotor. Then you might hear the squeel/squeek unless you have a loud exhaust.

Eventually you could ruin the pad, the rotors, and even the E-caliper. ALL UNSEEN as its the insider rear only! If an ACR, the rotors are $525/pair! TAKE A LOOK ASAP....

Get down low, behind the car. Examine the E-caliper pads. Are the inner pads obvously THINNER than the outer pads?
You are DRAGGING! Your inside rotor surface is a bit thinner too. Swap the pads out-for-in. Stop using your E-brake when flat and level. Lubricate the cable mechanism. Pay attention to this issue, or face premature expiration of your epads and rotors.

Not having an emergency? Dont habitually use the E-brake.

Be Safe Out There...... JonB

[ACRucrazy]

One of the first things I was told with JonB when I bought my first Viper was not to use ebrake unless needed. Great advice I and I use that suggestion.

[ViperGTS]

I remember my mechanic telling me that the cable for the e-brake is under tension (stock) too much and should be loosened somehow...to avoid this.
Any input on this?

[FrgMstr]

Replacing $500 worth of rotors right now because of this. CHECK THE INSIDE pads on the e-brake as a normal maintenance item. I learned the hard way.

[J TNT]

Good advice , I reversed mine last year , caught it in time

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

"Reversing the E-pads" inner-to-outer before damage occurs save the cost of the pads and the damage! The outer pad 'never' wears out....

You can even buy just half-a-set of new E-pads for $60 from you-know-hoo.......

[Rizzo]

Had this happen on my Gen 3. I caught it in time and no damage other than an almost worn out inner pad. Only did it on the drivers side on mine. Strange.

[slowhatch]

Gonna check mine tonight.

[St.Char]

That's amazing that it wore the entire pad down, thanks for the pics, that's unfortunate...

[Alex Mills]

My left one has been squeaking for a year or two now. I pretty much never use my parking brake and figured there was nothing I could do about it.

If I swap inside to out, this should resolve the squeak?

[ViperGTS]

if there is something left to swap from the inside...check!

My left one has been squeaking for a year or two now. I pretty much never use my parking brake and figured there was nothing I could do about it.

If I swap inside to out, this should resolve the squeak?

[ACR Steve]

Never use mine and had it happen lucky I heard it . Is there any fix to put les tension on the cable?

[MI Viper]

Had this happen on my Gen 3. I caught it in time and no damage other than an almost worn out inner pad. Only did it on the drivers side on mine. Strange.

Same here, on our gen IV, just drivers side, the inner pad was about 50% more wore out, than outer pad. Took Jon B advice and just swapped the inner and outer pads, and the passenger side was fine. I also ordered the new 2 sets before I pulled the wheels. Haven't set the parking brake since, (Florida is the land of flatness)

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

My left one has been squeaking for a year or two now. I pretty much never use my parking brake and figured there was nothing I could do about it. If I swap inside to out, this should resolve the squeak?

"PROBABLY".... but a dragging inner E-pad is the problem, and the squeak is just a symptom to help diagnose it.

And for some reason (probably corner-weighting) the driver's side seems to be worse.

Other note: If you wear-out and ruin ONE rotor, you have to replace BOTH! You cannot have a thick-new-rotor on one just side!

[Bluecoupe]

I will check my e-brake when I install my new PSS tires (from JonB) this weekend. I only have 12K miles on my Viper, but it is worth checking.

[Bill Pemberton]

Just to add one more note to this issue, if you have an ACR, and you track it ( or if you track your Viper), even if you do not use your E-Brake , your E-Brake pads will wear extremely quickly.
Almost everyone I know who has an ACR has gone through the pads and most of us never use the Emergency Brakes as we are conditioned not to set it after a track outing for fear of warping
the rotors. Replaced my rear pads at 7,000 miles!

[Vypr Phil]

Will the Gen V have the same problem or has this been resolved?

[Steve M]

Will the Gen V have the same problem or has this been resolved?

I don't think anyone really knows yet...it appears to be the same parking brake assembly, but mounted on the opposite side. Not sure what that does to the cable routing.

I think only Nine Ball would have enough miles on his to make a fair assessment.

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

Will the Gen V have the same problem or has this been resolved?

E-Cable line routing is quite different, and caliper is now in FRONT of wheel. We think the same issue will occur....but hard to predict. Time will tell.......... "probably" But even harder to visualize now with wheel on.

[Sonoman]

It looks to me like the source of the dragging brake may not be the Brembo e-brake caliper itself but the Viper's overly aggressive auto-tensioning cable mechanism up at the hand brake lever. BTW, Brembo sold a similar system known as the "GT Series hand brake kit" in the aftermarket. Does anyone know if you release all the cable tension does the inner brake pad retract a bit or does it continue to ride on the disc surface? As a purely mechanical (non-hydraulic) e-brake, the release of the pad/piston tension should be controlled by a return spring, else the pad will not retract after releasing the e-brake lever. There are a few annoying issues about a dragging e-brake-- in addition to wearing out the pads prematurely, it is throwing extra heat into the rotors and generating more brake dust as well. Just a poorly executed design overall.

[Steve M]

I don't think releasing the cable tension would matter...it certainly wouldn't retract the piston. When you go to replace the pads, you have to retract the piston by doing a combo push down and turn with a pair of pliers (or something similar), essentially screwing it back in to the caliper.

[Sonoman]

I don't think releasing the cable tension would matter...it certainly wouldn't retract the piston. When you go to replace the pads, you have to retract the piston by doing a combo push down and turn with a pair of pliers (or something similar), essentially screwing it back in to the caliper.

Good info. The retraction would only have to be a fraction of a hair to get the pad wear issue resolved. As long as there is no actual pressure applied it shouldn't wear the pad significantly.

[aspman]

So a stupid question....if you don't set the brake what are you doing?

[Steve M]

So a stupid question....if you don't set the brake what are you doing?

Leaving it in gear.

[swexlin]

Leaving it in gear.

My only problem is where I live it is very hilly, even in some parking lots. Just leaving in gear when parking isn't really secure enough.