Rear Parking Brake Cables

[rumblecloud]

I've been digging around to find out about whether or not the rear parking brake cables are different between 9" drums and 10" drums.
I think the only difference is the right rear cable is a bit longer by about an inch - according to what's available on Rock Auto.

Can anyone confirm

It's gonna be a winter project, so I'm gathering the parts. When I replaced the drums, shoes and guts a couple years back, the left rear cable was broken, so I've been driving without a the parking/emergency brake for awhile - don't judge me, I'm old. I just think it's about time to fix it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[pjtoledo]

not exactly inspiring news, but several years ago I had to take the original cables to NAPA to compare the lengths on my 2000
ex cab. all attempts of listings by application gave me the wrong length cables.
for my 2005 reg cab I took the vin to Ford and got correct cables.

 

[rumblecloud]

That's prolly what I'll end up doing. Or at least take em off and measure them and go from there.
Thanks PJ

 

[rumblecloud]

Well...i am kinda stuck and need some advice.
I have the correct cables for the rear according to part numbers from shop manual. Both rear cables are installed and ready to re-connected to the front cable.
The left rear cable is good and fits/reaches the equalizer with plenty of slack.
The right rear is a different story. It is a bit short of reaching the equalizer. I've pulled the front cable back by hand as far as i can get it it go and I'm short about 5 or so inches.
I've researched and found no clues as to what I might be doing wrong.
If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear 'em.
Thanks in advance.

 

[2011Supercab]

A properly working parking brake pedal assembly automatically takes up the excess slack, you need to release the slack adjuster to get the cable to come out more, I don't know if there is 5 inches there or not.

This video at about the 4 minute mark should give you an idea of how to do it.

 

[rumblecloud]

Thank you thank you!!
Imma give that a shot later this afternoon.

 

[pjtoledo]

did you reverse them at the equalizer?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

One thing that I’ve run into (it’s not much of a problem with the left brake cable but it is a big problem with the right), there’s standard suspension and HD suspension and a different brake cable for each. My first Ranger I ran into this problem, I had to make sure I bought the HD cable for the right side because it was longer. Because I had the oddball, 00 3.0 5-speed extended cab 2wd XLT that had no cruise, power nothing, just carpet and AC, but factory HD suspension and brakes. Had a 7.5” rear with 10” drums.

 

[rumblecloud]

did you reverse them at the equalizer?

I have the left cable at the front of the Equalizer and the right cable at the rear:

 

[rumblecloud]

One thing that I’ve run into (it’s not much of a problem with the left brake cable but it is a big problem with the right), there’s standard suspension and HD suspension and a different brake cable for each. My first Ranger I ran into this problem, I had to make sure I bought the HD cable for the right side because it was longer. Because I had the oddball, 00 3.0 5-speed extended cab 2wd XLT that had no cruise, power nothing, just carpet and AC, but factory HD suspension and brakes. Had a 7.5” rear with 10” drums.

I'll have to check my window sticker and spec. I'm not sure about the rear diff. I have ten inch drums, 4x4, 4.0L, Splash edition. I don't think it's HD, but I will check. Thanks.

 

[sgtsandman]

One thing I found is that cable routing makes a world of difference. I accidentally misrouted the left cable on the 2011 and couldn't get it to hook up until I discovered the routing issue and fixed it.

 

[rumblecloud]

Well, thanks for all the input. Here's where I stand:
Cables are routed correctly (thank you for that). I've gone over that a bunch of times going thru images and the shop books and the right side cable is still about 5-6 inches too short even with the equalizer in place. I've stretched the existing front cable as much as I can,
As mentioned earlier in this post from @2011Supercab there is some extra cable available in the ratchet mechanism. If I remove it to access that extra cable, I may as well replace that piece of the puzzle as well. That part will be here Monday.

Today. I'm headed the the pull yard. They have a couple of my generation Rangers in the yard that I have picked over before, just to check and see what they look like - plus it'll get me outta the house for a few hours.

If none of this helps to resolve the issue, I'm just going to splice in the extra cable I need and call it a day.

I'm not gonna beat my head against the wall for an extra six inches -- that's what she said.

 

[rumblecloud]

Solved...I think...

The pull yard helped immensely, but that's for later.
The mystery for me was two pieces of hardware that connect the left cable and the right cable to the equalizer and this one other part that rarely gets mentioned....see images.

This guy gets connected to the front cable and to the rear left cable after the rear left cable gets pushed thru the front slot on the equalizer bracket.



After this is done...it reduces the distance to the left rear cable by about an inch- plus.



Then with the equalizer in place on the left rear cable it reduces the gap to a manageable distance which should be eliminated by the slack or extra cable that's wound up in the foot pedal bracket.

My goodness what a learning experience.

i think I need to detail this somehow for other dumba55e5 like me. Thanks you guys for the help.

 

[rumblecloud]

Kinda finished it up last night. Didn't even have to use the new front cable.
Now I think I wanna go back in and redo everything just because I'm an idiot,]

 

[mikkelstuff]

Hey no idiots on this website. I should know, ha. These are "learning experiences" which danged few of us would even attempt to tackle anymore.