The Electronic Parking Brake is the Greatest Failure of the Ford Bronco

[jehines3]

Electronic parking brakes are far more likely to get stuck, particularly in vehicles that go off-road frequently. Also I live in an extremely hilly area and go off roading in steep mountainous roads and I’ve never used hill start assist. It’s a useless feature for anyone who actually knows how to drive. Again you don’t understand because you drive the automatic, but in the manual, dealing with the parking brake is something you do every single time you drive the vehicle.

So how exactly do you lock out the hill start through the ford Software? Just asking for a friend since you are likely benefitting from hill start. As a manual owner of many vehicles the description of its fiction seems about on point. But as a (now) non manual owner, I’ll take all the darts.

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[bronco100]

So how exactly do you lock out the hill start through the ford Software? Just asking for a friend since you are likely benefitting from hill start. As a manual owner of many vehicles the description of its fiction seems about on point. But as a (now) non manual owner, I’ll take all the darts.

I don't know exactly, I recall the setting being fairly easy to find. Tell your friend to just go through all the various settings. As for the second part of your reply I have literally no idea what that means. The "description of its fiction"? What "darts" are you taking? What on earth are you talking about?

 

[Gnomad]

has anyone had a look at the switch wiring for the parking break?
It would appear to be a momentary on/off/on switch so something like this could be installed in a better spot like on the console. If it wasn't winter I'd go have a look myself but I'm lazy.
https://www.amazon.com/RV-Designer-...momentary+rocker+switches,aps,100&sr=1-3&th=1

 

[BigHoof]

My Bronco in particular has already had a total failure of the electronic parking brake in it's first 200 miles. I have been told by the dealership that this is rare, but they have seen other Bronco's experience this as well. I've been told it's is an electric/wiring issue and apparently the fix is simple, but the part needed is of course backordered for months.

This would never have been a possible problem if the engineers hadn't decided that they needed to reinvent the wheel here.

What is the answer to the question, WHY an electronic parking brake? What, they thought people who wanted to drive a MANUAL transmission Bronco would just love if their parking brake was anything but manual? And of course they devise the stupidest electronic solution possible, put it in a horrible and inconvenient location and design it poorly enough so that Bronco owners see it failing completely within weeks of ownership.

To my knowledge, it's also quite useless as an emergency brake - as it won't work if the vehicle doesn't have power, and would be very tricky to use (if possible at all) in a brake failure situation. To my understanding, you have to reach for it in it's tucked-away location under the dash, where it's quite impossible to find unless you have great muscle memory of exactly where it is, and even more so impossible in the dark, and then you have to remember whether it's push or pull to engage, hopefully pick the right direction, and HOLD it there for an extended period of time. You have to do all of this while steering and shifting and pumping your brake pedal and honking your horn and whatever else you would be doing in an emergency brake failure situation. Since you have to reach so far down and forward, it would probably mess with your driving position making you less safe in the event of a crash. I'd also be curious if it can be disengaged if the vehicle doesn't have power at all. I would assume it must be, somehow, because if not, that would obviously be extremely problematic.

As a side note, it's also completely useless for having fun with, as you have to clutch kick or use the transfer of weight to slide the car around. Ford obviously considers this a factor for some cars (e.g., the new Ford Mustang which has a handbrake built for drifting). Do they think Bronco drivers don't like to do the same thing? We must just want to drive to the mall and to the grocery store and we surely hate having fun, right?

Sure, not a big deal for those who drive the automatic transmission Broncos, but this is probably widely agreed as the #1 grievance that 7MT drivers have with their Bronco. They clearly spent a lot of time designing and engineering the vehicle and succeeded at that in many ways, ways that we all love, which just makes this stand out even more as such an absolute and utter failure. I really don't think they put more than 30 seconds of thought into it.

I would like to hear any suggestions for improving the electronic parking brake experience with the Bronco. From my preliminary research, I think a hydraulic handbrake would be the easiest solution. A hydro handbrake can typically be installed on any vehicle without much difficulty. The only tricky parts may be ensuring the lever itself is discrete and matches the Bronco's interior. I imagine a second brake caliper would then be required for the rear wheels as well. Does anyone make anything like this, or any alternative systems? Has anyone tried this yet, maybe for a ad hoc use case like Ultra4 or SEMA, but still? Would love to hear all thoughts on this! Thanks.

Definitely would prefer a manual lever. i know of several people over the years that saved themselves from a major accident by being able to put on the parking brake when their brakes failed. Pedal or lever, at least there was a backup. The electronic version is just another nanny system we can do without.

Have an operation question. If the battery would go dead and you have a manual parked on a hill, does the parking brake let go? Or does power applied cause the brake to release?

 

[Direwild]

Uhmm no. Is this a troll post? Definitely not the biggest failure. And some of your statements are completely false. Of course the brake still works when the engine is off. Seems like you are grasping for things to complain about.
The most common issue among 7spd buyers is the digital tach and analog speedometer. The only real issue with the current parking brake is the tendency for the lever to break off in your hand

Umm. Is this a troll post. The brake is obsoletely the biggest problem by far. I'm having issues again on my 7mt. Yeah I've already had warranty work on it at 8k miles, now again at 17k. You obviously don't own a 7mt bronco. Or you have a completely different batch

 

[JerryC]

I had one of those "oh crap" moments where I forgot something and pulled back into the driveway. Wife in the passenger seat, motor running (Bronco that is) to warm it up and as I was staring to get out remembered just in time to set the parking brake.

There's no way she could have gotten to the parking brake in time. For one she doesn't drive it and has never used it and she would have to unbuckle and crawl over the center console.

If it was in the console, either electronic or manual that would not be a problem.

 

[Direwild]

You clearly tried to oversell your thread title. I've owned mostly manuals and I get what you are saying but It's a parking brake, how can it be a huge failure? Being electric is also how it works on hill start assist which is a huge bonus for manual trans owners in steep terrain. I've had 7 manuals in my life, the brake is actually a pretty good design. My Isuzu manuals all had that stupid leaver that pull out to the lower left of the steering wheel. Anyone in a salt environment will flat out tell you a cable driven parking/E-brake running on a drum setup is junk. Parking Brakes get stuck and locked on with that junk even though you released the cable pressure. I've been under a truck or two with a heat gun trying to get the cable unfrozen.

So biggest failure, nope, Better mouse trap.

Say that to my bronco. Taking it in tomorrow for the 2nd time due to this. Your argument is invalid.

 

[jehines3]

Say that to my bronco. Taking it in tomorrow for the 2nd time due to this. Your argument is invalid.

Sorry, dude, that blows. Have they offered any insight as to the part or parts that are causing the problem? Hope it resolves soon. I really like the design, I guess it fails in reliability.

 

[Maine Explorer]

This thread is really confusing to me.

We're talking about how it should have a manual parking brake and everybody says it doesn't need it for safety or parking... You think we want it for safety and parking?

The lever is for sliding!!! The electric simply can't do that. I'm really not that worried about needing to yank it during an emergency on the highway, I've driven stick all my life so I have no fear of hill starts especially with how forgiving the transmission is, and when I park I just leave it in gear.

It's a missed opportunity because the manual ones allowed for silly silly fun and that's the whole point of this car especially with a stick shift. We can talk to we're blue in the face about how practical the electric one is but who buys this vehicle for the practicality? It's a silly silly toy and the lever manual break would make it sillier and more fun.

Safety? Practicality? How is that the point? Who cares?

I want my slide lever

 

[Maine Explorer]

Sorry, brake not break.

 

[CalvinT]

I learned to drive in an old Ford F-100 with a manual. I learned to take off on a hill without rolling back and without using the parking brake. The parking brake was foot activated. My father wouldn't let me get a license until I could do that (among other things like backing up). Just feather the gas with left foot and rock the right foot between the clutch and brake pedal. When you feel the clutch start to engage, ease up on the brake pedal. So I don't need hill start assist (still not sure how it works) nor a manual parking brake to start off on a hill. Having said that, I don't care for the electric parking brake.

What happens if I need to be towed due to electrical failure and the brake is set? How to release it? I need to find out what tools I need to manually release or disassemble it.

I don't like the trend to electrical controls (transfer case). But I understand why it's happening. Easier and cheaper to design a motor for the job and run wires than it is to design, install and align mechanical linkages. I think many people's rear brake pads will last longer. They won't be driving around with a parking brake partially set.

Rather than fight the world, learn to adopt and work around the changes.

I bought my Bronco specifically because I could get it with a manual transmission and crawler gear.

 

[lapazleo]

FYI those of you commenting on this thread today do you realize you're commenting on a thread with the most recent post before yours was over 16 months ago?

 

[JerryC]

FYI those of you commenting on this thread today do you realize you're commenting on a thread with the most recent post before yours was over 16 months ago?

If they started a new thread somebody would point to this one and say to use the search feature.

 

[The Pope]

Yes, this is an Old Thread...... but it's still an issue.

We can only hope that @fomoco will do the right thing for the 2025 Broncos with MT, by having a Mechanical Hand Brake, instead of the electronic one.

 

[mikec426]

I wouldn’t hold my breath

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