Brakes and Traction Control: Description and Operation

DESCRIPTION - BASE BRAKE SYSTEM
The base brake system consists of the following components:
- Brake pedal
- Brake lamp switch
- Power brake booster
- Master cylinder
- Proportioning valves (2) (non-ABS vehicles only)
- Brake tubes and hoses
- Disc brakes (front)
- Disc brakes (rear) (optional)
- Drum brakes (rear)
- Parking brake

The hydraulic brake system is diagonally split on both the non-antilock and antilock braking systems. This means the left front and right rear brakes are on one hydraulic circuit and the right front and left rear are on the other.

Front disc brakes control the braking of the front wheels; rear braking is controlled by rear drum brakes as standard equipment. Rear disc brakes and antilock brakes with or without traction control are optional.

Vehicles equipped with the optional antilock brake system (ABS) use a system that shares most base brake hardware used on vehicles without ABS.

The parking brake system consists of a hand-operated lever mounted between the front seats, two parking brake cables and parking brake shoes at each rear wheel. Only vehicles with rear disc brakes receive separate parking brake shoes. Vehicles with rear drum brakes utilize the service brakes as the parking brake shoes.

OPERATION - BASE BRAKE SYSTEM
When a vehicle needs to be stopped, the driver applies the brake pedal. The brake pedal pushes the input rod of the power brake booster into the booster. The booster uses vacuum to ease pedal effort as force is transferred through the booster to the master cylinder. The booster's output rod pushes in the master cylinder's primary and secondary pistons applying hydraulic pressure through the proportioning valves (non-ABS - rear only) and chassis brake tubes to the brakes at each tire and wheel assembly.

The parking brakes are hand-operated. When applied, the parking brake lever pulls on cables that actuate brake shoes at each rear wheel. The parking brake lever has an automatic-adjusting feature that takes up any excessive slack in the parking brake cable system.