Parking Brake Lever Button Replacement/Upgrade

First time poster, long time observer, and hobby machinist here.

My last car was a Subaru and I always enjoyed the little interior mods you could do even if they did not add any function or change how the car performed. I replaced my stock AT shifter knob some time ago with a custom knob made from a Super Aramith Pro #6 billiard ball that I modified on my lathe.

I finally decided to tackle the parking brake lever button, a very popular modification in the Subaru community, and was surprised when I found a super minimal amount of information on how to remove the button. There are a few posts and links out there about this topic, but none had any solid answers. Since this is a popular modification in some car communities that has not made its way into the Tacoma community, I decided to write this post.

Removing the button is not as easy as it is on other cars, as you cannot just unscrew it. The spring in the handle that engages the locking pawl when setting the parking brake presses on a tooth on the back side of the button. If you try to simply unscrew the button, especially if you are using pliers or vise grips, which are not needed, you will either destroy the button or stretch the spring out. This feature probably exists to stop the button from vibrating loose, but you can use thread locker to stop any aftermarket buttons from coming loose if this really is a problem.

I did not remove the grip itself, but feeling the base of the grip inside the boot leads me to believe that it is just stuck down with adhesive, just like the Subaru ones. I would be curious to see if the Subaru parking brake accessories work directly on the 3rd Gen Tacoma.

To Remove the Parking Brake Lever Button:
Removing the center console trim is not required to do this, but may be helpful.

1. Unbend a paper clip that is thin enough to fit between the button and the inside of the handle grip so that it is straight.
2. Using pliers, grip the last 0.125"[3.18mm] of the paper clip and bend it to a roughly 45° angle.
3. Slide the bent end of the paper clip roughly 1"[25.4mm] into the handle in the gap between the parking brake button and the handle grip. By fishing the paper clip around, you should be able to feel the spring.
4. Rotate the paper clip so that the angled tip is in the spring/pressing on one of the coils of the spring. You should be able to push the paper clip in the direction of the handle and feel the spring pressing back without any slippage, just like pressing the button itself.
5. Grip the end of the paper clip that is sticking out of the handle with a pair of pliers and carefully depress the spring.
6. Unscrew the button. It should come off by hand. Breaking it free will require some force, but tools should not be needed to remove this, as it is just a plastic thread with no thread locker.
7. Replace the old button with something nicer. My stock button had lots of injection molding defects from the factory. I made my replacement buttons on a manual lathe out of solid brass and epoxy/acrylic pen making blanks. As long as the new button doesn't have a tooth for the spring to press on, you will not need to use a paper clip in the future.

Stock Button Dimensions:
Outer Diameter: 0.530"[13.46mm]
Overall Length: 1.138"[28.91mm]
Tip Radius: 0.100"[2.54mm]
Shoulder Diameter: 0.348"[8.84mm]
Shoulder Depth: 0.236"[6.00mm]
Counterbore Diameter: 0.235"[5.97mm]
Counterbore Depth: 0.118"[3.00mm]
Thread Depth(from outer edge of counter bore): 0.700"[17.78mm]
Thread: M5 x 0.8mm

For anyone who is curious, the AT shifter knob thread is M8 x 1.25mm.

NOTE:
The spring inside the handle is what makes the "ratchet" in the handle work. Without it, the parking brake will not set when pulling the lever up. Be smart. Don't let your truck roll away because of a missing spring.

I hope someone finds this post useful.

 

Fun times. Are you planning for any engraving, etching, or other colors?

 

alternatively, take the spring out, and make a 'hat' on the button, and now you've created a tacoma drift button.

 

Nice first post! Welcome to the forum.