Patent ID: 8250914

Claim:
A method of adjusting the tension of a parking brake having a handle and a tension cable, comprising: preloading a force probe with a predetermined load, wherein the predetermined load corresponds to a first position associated with the handle of the parking brake and the force probe comprises a deformable member; inserting the handle of the parking brake into a parking brake fixture attached to the force probe, the parking brake fixture comprising a self-actuating cam to secure the parking brake handle in the parking brake fixture and which engages the bottom of the parking brake handle and exerts an upward force on the parking brake handle to lock the parking brake handle within the parking brake fixture; placing the force probe on a component of a vehicle; adjusting a tension cable attached to the handle to apply a force to deflect the handle to a second position, wherein the second position corresponds to a predefined force value; and disabling the force applied to the tension cable, wherein adjusting the tension cable comprises using handle efforts to indicate a properly tensioned parking brake system.