Allright, so my truck has a 3" body lift on it-came with it when I bought it. The front emergency brake cable was stretched to the max. I took it off, found out the plastic coating had broke and was binding in the casing. Im getting a new cable, but my question is, should I put the cable in the factory spot, make new bracket to bolt to the cab, or get a longer cable? Or a different option? Thanks in advance!

 

If I understand correctly you don't have enough adjustment on the bolt where the front cable connects to the rear cables. If that's the case, how about using a piece of all-thread and a coupling nut to lengthen the existing bolt?

And, just in case you don't know, a coupling nut is a nut about 4 times longer than a standard nut and is used to connect two threaded devices, like bolts. Lowes usually has a supply of them. But, if you go this way you should either use jam-nuts either side of the coupling nut or Loctite the bolt & all-thread into the coupling nut.

This way you should be able to use all stock cables but still get plenty of adjustment.

 

Thanks for the suggestion Gary. But I have enough cable to get the adjuster fine tuned. See, the front cable housing isnt long enough due to the body lift. It has a nasty curve in it, which caused the failure. Im trying to figure out a way to make a nice bend with out a kink in it. I had wrong wording in my first post, sorry for the confusion!

 

Ahhh! Now I understand the problem. And, I don't have an immediate solution. All I'm coming up with is to replace the cable with a custom-made cable that is just the inner part and uses pulleys to keep it positioned.

 

Hey...great idea! I had tried to make a new bracket out of aluminum, and it kinda worked but that thing bent after the first try. I had bolted it to the bottom of the cab. Ill either try the pulleys or make a stronger bracket, say out of steel. Whaddya think?

 

I'm not picturing the bracket, even tho I recently took the parking brake mechanism out of my parts truck. Can you describe it a bit?

 

If I had a picture, I'd post it. Do you know the angled aluminum brackets for a garage door set-up? Well, I took a chunk and made a 90 degree side on one end, and bolted it to the bottom of the cab, and it was roughly 3" above stock location. I could get a picture tommorrow if you wanted, except for I took the old cable off to see what the problem was.

 

So, you are putting the e-brake foot pedal mechanism on at an angle? And, that would put the cable at an angle, thereby reducing the bend the cable has to make. That sounds like it would work if the bracket were made out of substantial material, but doesn't it put the pedal at an odd angle?

 

No, see, the bracket holds the opposite end of the cable housing, and its bolted underneath the cab. It basically takes the place of the cable going through the body mount, to raise it close to "stock" location. Its not inside the cab, and the pedal assembly is not touched.

 

I'm slow, sorry. My excuse is I'm old. I'm going to have to slide under mine in the morning to try to understand. I did slide under it last evening, but looked at the union of the front and rear cables, not where I think you are working.

Wait! My truck's in the garage, not outside. So, I looked. I think what you are doing is rerouting the cable so it doesn't go through the frame - right? I think that should work if made out of stronger material, like a piece of steel angle.

 

Not a problem. I wouldnt worry about being old, I think that experience of yours helps a lot of people on here. But yes, thats my goal, to re-route the cable. Thanks for the help!

 

I would think hard about removing the body lift, and either put a suspension lift on it, or regular parts. A body lift on our trucks look odd. Especially at the front bumper.

 

I would like to take the body lift off and put on a reasonable suspension, but at the moment funds are low so...it'll have to wait.

 

E-brake is now issue free! Here's a pic of what I put in there.

 

Glad that fixed it. E-brake is a must to have. Good job.