Reconnecting parking brake cables along frame rail

[fastpakr]

Is there an obvious trick to creating more slack to reconnect the brake cables at the junction along the frame rail? I put in new rear cables to each drum before swapping the new axle in, and the self adjusters are spun down to their narrowest adjustment. But I'm a good way (1"?) from being able to connect the rear cable assembly (circled red in the photo below) up to the bracket ahead of it.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I'm not sure that running the star wheels all the way in is helping. You are now trying to overcome not only the return springs of the park brake cables but also the pressure from the brake shoe return springs.

 

[fastpakr]

Am I just thinking about that backwards? I thought by running the adjusters inwards I was relieving as much tension as possible on the cable.

 

[Uncle Gump]

With them all the way in... your shoes may not even be sitting on the anchor pin. The park brake strut would prevent the shoes from returning to the anchor pin. So to pull the park brake cable... you will have to over come spring tension of the return springs to get it to move.

 

[fastpakr]

Thanks. So what's the most appropriate way to set things to facilitate slack in the cable for the time being while I'm reconnecting it?

 

[fastpakr]

I'm really starting to think something isn't right with the new cables I've got.

Among other things, the barrel ends are larger than any of my stock cables. With enough twisting and coaxing, they can be pressed into the stock connector brackets, but they're dramatically larger in diameter.
There's no obvious issue with the way I've got the brakes assembled, but I'm -at least- an inch or so from getting things connected. And it doesn't feel like I'm fighting springs, it's just a hard stop like I've run out of cable completely.

 

[Ranger850]

Don't shoot me, BUT ... What if you connected it here first.

Then pull it towards the shoes. It may be easier to go the other way with it. Just a thought.

 

[fastpakr]

I've disconnected it in virtually every location and it always leaves roughly the same amount of cable length unavailable.

 

[fastpakr]

Advance's website is borderline useless on brake cables...
Rock Auto lists a total of five cables for rear left, broken down by 'standard', 'payload', and 'heavy duty'. Raybestos and AC Delco each have cables labeled as 'standard' and as 'payload', and Motorcraft makes a 'heavy duty'. I thought that standard vs heavy was 9 vs 10" brakes.

But then you go to the rear right, and there are references to both brake sizes, and within 10" brakes there are standard and heavy duty suspension options listed.

Madness.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Try taking the drums off... remove one of the brake shoe return springs and then remove the park brake struts (on both drum brake assemblies).

Connect the cables... then reassemble the brakes. If the brake shoes won't go to the anchor pin (because the park brake strut won't allow them to).... adjust the park brake.

 

[fastpakr]

Keeping some notes here for me, and hopefully anybody else going down this road later...

The 'standard' and 'heavy duty' passenger side cables for 10" brakes are all 82.75-83.15 inches and frequently cross references of each other. Those descriptors seem to be meaningless - the only relevant bit is avoiding 9" cables because they're 80.9" long.

Drivers side cables are 51.58" for 'standard' and 53.63" for 'payload' or 'heavy duty'.

 

[fastpakr]

On a related note - I realized while looking at pictures that I'm missing the spring in this photo. Anybody know the name for that? I haven't turned up an obvious replacement for it on the usual parts sites.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Just use any old spring, it's just to pull the pedal back when you release it...

I moved the rear mount to the frame to where worked best for me which I think was further back than that, don't remember what I got the bracket from...

On the cables, when I did the disc brakes I finally got the parking brake hooked up, I had to make an adapter but I did it the cheap and easy way... it involved about a foot of 1" 1/8" steel strap and like 6" of 1/4" allthread and two nyloc nuts and two standard nuts... The piece of strap I cut it in half, drilled a 1/4" hole about 1/2" from the end of both pieces, drilled a hole about 2" from the other end that was big enough for the cable end to go through then a hole the size of the cable about 1/2" from the same end. Bend both ends in a vise about an inch from the end, with an angle grinder and cutoff wheel connect the bigger hole and smaller hole across the bend on the two pieces... Put the two standard nuts in the middle of the allthread and tighten them together. Put the cable ends through the keyholes and the allthread through the others and the nylocs go on those ends... Hopefully that makes sense, I'd post pictures but I'm not home...

 

[fastpakr]