TIPIT:
Yeh that’s the parking brake design they used on the updated version, probably around '69 ish. The position it’s shown in the photo is when the brake is off. By pushing it straight forward it gave you braking like a footbrake but without brake lights, then it would spring back into that position when you released it. But flicking it into the slot to the right locked the brake on, that forward slot was really just to allow the brake to blow it’s self off completely as you released it against a strong spring. It was put that high up just for easy access and to aid crossing the cab, as the design they used before this was a big chrome 3ft lever. Which fell alongside your left boot, and stayed about 6 inches from the cab floor (whether it was on or off.) To put it on you just pulled the lever up which lit a panel light on the dash, but then it flopped back loosly to the ground, just waiting to be tripped over. Taking the brake off you pulled it up untill tension was felt on the lever (about a foot of movement) then you squose the trigger beneath and let the leaver fall again causing the dash light to go out again.( It was okay so long as that dash bulb hadn’t blown.) So unless the ignition was switched on you had no way of knowing if the brake was on or off, the lever still flopped about loosly. I passed my test on one of these and they were great for reversing with all that glass at the back.
cheers for that – '69 ish sounds right - it’s an H reg
I drove the Dodge front of pictue CFO73E it didn,t have that brake, neither did the two others in the picture. 69ish was probably right about when they started fitting them.
Ah, the Clayton Dewandre parking brake 
It was this simple thing that made me into a lorry driver. It is the sound you see as you push the lever forward to release it.
pss, schh schh 
Here is another one in a different truck.
Wheel Nut:
Ah, the Clayton Dewandre parking brake
It was this simple thing that made me into a lorry driver. It is the sound you see as you push the lever forward to release it.
pss, schh schh
Here is another one in a different truck.
so does it work on the same principle as spring brakes?
Lock actuators were fitted to the later Mk1 & Mk 2 Atkinsons, they were not as good as the spring brakes, the reason the control was placed in a handy position was because the secondary brakes were incorporated in the lever. There was always a problem to get them to release if the parking brake had been applied with the footbrake also on. The only way to get them off was to build the pressure above the pressure used when the parking brake was applied by pressing the foot brake with the handle held in the released position; holding the handle in the release position also allowed the air pressure to build up past the normal pressure by passing the unloader valve.
Where was this Dodge, and what body did it have?
Geezah:
Where was this Dodge, and what body did it have?
one side was covered with junk and other was in the sun – best I could do -
it’s in Worcestershire btw
was this on the side of the m5 ?
Thanks for that. It wont take much restoring if somebody got there hands on it.
curnock:
was this on the side of the m5 ?
HA was a Birmingham number, as its in Worcestershire, sounds as if it hasn,t moved far.
Dave the Renegade:
curnock:
was this on the side of the m5 ?
HA was a Birmingham number, as its in Worcestershire, sounds as if it hasn,t moved far.
correct on both counts…
I had permission to take the pic and it’s clearly visible from the road so I don’t see a problem revealing this!
That brought back memories of the operation, it caught out a few drivers new to it the way it released seeing as most were used to a dead man handle and separate ratchet hand brake, this make combined the two. Shame to see that old Dodge lying rusting, needs a good home and some TLC. Franky.
this is a 1966 reg and this one had a hand brake lever
I’m sure the Dodge 500’s I remember were D reg as the above but had the Clayton Dewander lever already talked about but surely that was because they were artics and needed the Secondary brake (Blue line) where as the rigids didn’t, unlike today because of Spring Brakes in use. Rigids only required Service (foot) and Park (handbrakes) then. I might be wrong and have my memory of things out of kilter but I’m sure D Series rigids only had foot and that awful dash mounted pull out hand brake that sometimes was a pig to release.
Franky.
hi franky re picture above your reply dodge was a 6wheeler double drive rigid with the hand brake lever on the floor my father owned it for about 4 years it had a perkins 6354 engine if i remember rightly
Your right about the D Series hand brake Franky, that was a pig if you had it on to hard ended up with a sore hand, I had lots of problems with them. 
Yeah know what your saying Gavin first time I came up against it was with a new D 1000, I soon sussed that out as you said to park it in gear with wheels into the kerb. Don’t know if I got the hang of it or the the truck got older and things slackened off, but the problem stopped.
) Another problem was drivers jumping into the truck flicking the lever off with out holding it for a few seconds so not giving it enough time to release the lock, they would then flick the lever back and forth and use up the air so the brakes would never come off until the air was built up. Remember full air brakes were fairly new and unless the driver had been driving artics he would not be expirienced in air brakes.