I'm working on my 96 today. (painting the rear half of the frame, etc.)

The parking brake cables are an annoyance. I never have used them, and never will use them.

Can I just remove (cut) them with out taking the drums apart?

 

I wouldn't just cut them. The issue is that the cable itself could come loose from the emergency brake lever and get loose inside the drum. I suppose you could remove the rest of the cables if you could somehow retain pressure on the inside cable so it didn't get loose, but the best thing would be to just replace them and get your e-brake working. With the frequency that these trucks loose their vac pumps, it wouldn't be a terrible thing to have them functional just in case.

Otherwise, I guess I would just leave them alone.

 

Well, darn, you talked me out of it.