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I am having some issues with my parking brake cables on my 50 F-2. It is the stock Lockheed style brakes on the Timken axle.
I bought reproduction cables, and now that I'm getting the drums and shoes on, I'm running into a problem. The cables are about a 1/2" shorter than the originals. It might not sound like much, but that 1/2" actuates the parking brake lever mounted on the shoes quite a bit. Just to confirm that was the problem, I swapped it out with the crusty original cable, and that allows the shoes to retract completely instead of staying partially engaged. The small spring that is mounted on the cable is also way too short, it never compresses even when you pull the cable all the way.
Since I've confirmed that they are poorly made, I decided to seriously look at using my original cables. Out of my three original cables, only one of the wheel cables is in usable shape as-is. The other wheel cable is gummed up pretty good, and it does not return when you release the spring tension on it. The long cab mounted cable needs a new threaded end on both ends, and it would be ok to use.
Can you restore parking brake cables? I know you can get the generic inner cables with the ball ends, but I would need to use threaded ends. Are there any individuals or companies that restore cables?
I've been restoring vehicles for a while, and I've never had this problem before. Every time I've purchased a reproduction cable it fit and worked like it should.
If there isn't a good option for refurbishing my cables, I guess I'll be on the look out for a set of usable take-off cables from a 48-50 F-2.
There is a couple of companies that make cable controls for all kinds of products boats tractors cars and other machines they may not be to oem but mine work just fine
quadrastat is one
the other is cablecraft google these names may turn up a company
you may have a push-pull company in your area pic of the one I have used not cheap
I wondered if the cables you bought are really for an F-1, but the cables for an F-1 are actually 5/8" longer.
My cables were rusted/gummed up like yours, so I hung them up and shot Kroil down them until it came out the bottom end. I worked on the cables until they broke free, flexing the outer sheath, adding more Kroil. Eventually they worked smoothly. Then I poured motor oil down and worked them some more. They've been working perfectly ever since (15 yrs). The more you use them the better it is for them.
Ross, I tried your method with some PB Blaster and it freed the cable up quickly. I had tried before, but letting it soak and continuously adding oil until it was completely saturated did the trick. I think I can clean up and reuse the wheel cables, but I'm going to have to fix the main cable. Both the threaded ends were cut down to shorten the cable. I'm going to have to find someone who can swage new threaded stud ends onto the cable, or find a good main cable from someone.
I would think the easiest way to repair the front cable would be to weld the threaded part of a bolt with the correct threads to what is left of your original ends. May even need to trim the original part back a little.
I have one of those, it has issues as well. I had to grind one of the fittings down so that it would fit in an original clamp, and the cable is a few inches shorter overall.
Even if you barely thread the clevis onto the stud, the equalizer bracket has to be halfway “engaged” for you to be able to install the clevis pin. Again, I’m really not thrilled with these reproduction cables.
I could lengthen the stud on the reproduction cable, but at this point I am going to use an original cable. When I ordered these cables to begin with I didn’t know they were generic black cables, I was kind of bummed. . So I would prefer getting the original steel jacketed cables functional since they look a lot better.
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