'89 - Emergency Brake won't release

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Lots of threads in here about e-brakes being "frozen", but my symptoms are a little different so just wanted to do a sanity check before just getting new cable. Currently the e-brakes are not dragging, but if I set the e-brakes they don't release. When this happened previously I was able to loosen things up by removing the right-rear wheel & drum and did something-er-other (I forget exactly). Since then I just put a sticky note on the e-brake pedal not to use it. Thinking that won't pass inspection very well though.

Is it likely the cables need to be replaced? If so, it's a little confusing on the year-range coverage. Some listings suggest that '89 - '91 is it's own thing. Other suggest '84 - '92 is all the same. Are right and left the same?

Any insight appreciated.

 

[RegularGuy]

Seeing as this still hasn't been answered for you, I recently needed to replace my driver's rear cable on my 2007. The configurations are slightly different but it's about the same idea... On the 2007 the cable itself is laminated to avoid rusting, if only one side is dragging then it will be a rear cable or drum related issue. If both sides are dragging then it's likely either the front cable, or the pedal itself as it would be exceedingly rare for both drums to suddenly provide issue at the same time.

My first course of action upon what you've mentioned would be to check the front cable and pedal for drag. Within the drum assembly, the cables have rather stout springs on the end which will keep the entirety of the system under tension if the front end binds. This can be mildly frustrating. While I cannot speak to an '89, on my 2007 the pedal assembly has a spring within it and I can check for corrosion in the front end by pulling the cable towards the rear while under the truck. If the '89 is the same, this would be the easiest way to test the front end.

The most likely culprit would be the front cable has corroded in such a way that it cannot fully release.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Thanks for the detailed reply. So let me take a step back first since I've never worked on the brakes on these truck. Is it basically a 3 cable setup?

Thinking on it some more, while indeed the pedal release doesn't seem to work, it was only the right-rear that was bound up. Working on that corner alone I freed the brakes up and the pedal returned. It hasn't been depressed since that time.

 

[RegularGuy]

There is a single cable which goes from the pedal in the cab to a small piece of metal in under the bed which connects connects the other two cables together (three way junction) this way both sides receive equal pressure. If only the right rear is locking up when using the emergency brake, and does not do so while using the normal brake, it is almost certainly an issue with the longer of rear cables.

To replace it (most easily) you will need to remove the shoes from the passenger drum. There is a pivoting arm behind the brake assembly which applies pressure separate from the cylinder. The old one is easy enough, but you'll need to pull a relatively stiff spring back in order to snap the replacement into place. I was able to do so on my own but only out of necessity, having an additional hand or two makes that step a lot easier.

The cable going to the passenger drum should be attached to the rear axle above the differential if memory serves. Its all pretty straightforward once you get under the truck and have it in front of you....

Testing the old cable is as easy as trying to move it by hand, once you have an end disconnected, it should move pretty freely... Its just a large bicycle cable, you'll know if it's the problem pretty fast. In my case, I had to cut my cable off entirely. My brakes seized entirely a couple miles from home. Driving without the cable in my truck didn't bring with it any issues but I still avoided driving it until the part came in the mail.... It really put me on edge driving around like that

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Thanks for the detailed response.