Essential Guide to Park Brake Systems

A useful tip for workshops

There are three types of park brake systems: Conventional (manual) Park Brake, Electric Cable Puller and Electric Park Brake (EPB). Here we explain the difference between these systems and the benefits and disadvantages for both.

How-to-guide

Conventional (Manual) Park Brake

Operation: Lever
Transmission: Park brake lever or park brake pedal and cable
Actuator: Drum Brake, Drum in hat, Integrated caliper

Benefits

Low cost at time system is installed to the vehicle

Disadvantages

No driver assist, fully manual
Requires package space in interior
Routing and adjustment of thick mechanical bowden cables in production
Aging of cables and poor clamp-force stability over life time
Weight
Low reliability and safety, due to „driver-in-the-loop“

Examples of vehicles with this type of system: Nissan Micra, Ford Focus, Peugeot 208

Electric Cable Puller Park Brake

Operation: Switch, Wire harness
Transmission: Cable puller unit with ECU and wire harness, Rear cable
Actuator: Drum Brake, Drum in hat, Integrated caliper

Benefits

Driver assist functions
Small space requirement due to switch

Disadvantages

Parts cost and installation effort
Aging of cables and poor clamp-force stability over life time
Durability limitations at higher cable loads
Low reliability due to sticking cables, single motor drive approach, overloaded brake actuators, etc
High technical effort for cable puller unit fixation and noise insulation

Examples of vehicles with this type of system: Citroen C5, Ford C-MAX, Peugeot 3008

Electric Park Brake

Operation: Switch, Wire harness
Transmission: ECU with wire harness
Actuator: EPB Caliper

Benefits

Driver assist functions
Small space requirement due to switch
Lowest installation cost
Very high reliability due to simple mechanics and separate brake control for left and right
Very high durability up to 300k load cycles
Precise clamp-force control
Low weight

Disadvantages