The front cable recently broke. I removed the front and mid cables. There was a recall on the self adjusting rachet on the pedal assembly. It was fixed with a little plastic wedge. I have removed that. Now I have the new cable hooked up to the pedal assembly. But, when I try to hook the front and mid cable together with the rear bracket, I am short about 2" or 3". It looks like the self adjust rachet on the pedal assembly needs to be moved. But, I can not figure out how to do this.

Does anyone know how to hook this back up?

Thanks
Kevin

 

I am in the process of changing the e-brake cables on my 95 my cables were short so I just compromised and got an imtermediate for a longer wheel base. I'm not sure this will solve the problem but I am going to find out.

 

I pulled the front cable back out because all the local advice was that the cable was the wrong length. I match it to the old cable and it is right. The Hayne manual (were can I get a manufacturer manual for my 92? the publisher is out of stock) says that there is no provision for adjustment at the brake assembly. This strongly implies that all the slack is in the adjustment star/pawl in the rear brake drums. I am suspicious of this. But, I may pull one drum and take out the slack to see. The rear brakes are an area I have not messed with before. I get how to deal with disk. Drums will be new. Also, it is not warm outside in Colorado right now. (ahh... driveway mechanics....)

 

check with the publisher www.helminc.com for your manual. Their website idicates it is in stock, 2 volumes, $90.

 

I got the longer cable and it worked I'm not sure if the cables I got were packaged wrong or if the company is making with wrong cables.

 

I just replace my cable that come off the pedal assemly on my 95 f250 a few months back, & had this problem too, I can't quite remember if i tugged on the middle cable toward the back ,or the back cable toward the front which ever one I did it works & was able too re-cinnect the cable's-hope this helped

 

I found a guy you said he worked on a Chevy with a similar setup. Looks like I need to wind the ratchet back as far as it will go. There is not enough slack in the rear drums. I will either put a come-along on the T-bar attached to the mid-cable. Or, I will disengage the pawl, take the brake assembly pedal to the floor, use the recall ratchet-pawl wedge to fix the ratchet to the pedal position, pull the pedal to the up position. Either way should get me most of that distance back.
This sure didn't look this hard when I started.

Anyone got any thoughts on this before I try it?

 

Well it took a little while but I got it figured out.

It takes 2 tools to do this job

1 x 13mm wrench
1 pair needle nose pliers

There are two things to know.
1) The 13mm wrench - The front e-brake cable has a sturdier housing to protect and guide it to the right places on the frame. It has little barbs on either end to hold it in place. Slip the wrench over those barbs. It will compress them and allow you to slide the line out of the holes in which it is anchored.

2) Disengage the pawl from the ratchet on the e-brake assembly in the cab. Use the needle nose pliers to take the spring off the pawl. make sure the pawl is off the ratchet.

2.5) Remove the plastic tab holding the pawl against the ratchet. Save it for later or (IMHO) get a new one.

3) Install the new line by pushing the lower end through the hole in the floor board and then pushing the upper end through the anchor hole in the e-brake assembly. Run the cable around the e-brake assembly from back to front. Bring in all the extra slack. Form a "U" shaped loop. This will allow you to manipulate how the metal **** on the end is oriented as you try to seat it into the ratchet. Make sure you are working far enough counter-clockwise (as you look from the inside towards the outside of the truck.) so that the cable does not have interference from the "catch" located near the seating hole.

4) When the cable is seated, make sure that the cable is tracing in the correct guides all the way back around. It should pretty much fall into place.

5) Push the lower end into the frame anchor location. (you will need to pull the cable through first and then anchor the cable housing to the frame) It just pushes in.

6) I got a new mid cable too. It has a half barrel with a tiny catch to keep the metal tab from the front cable from backing out. Put the metal tab into the barrel and pull it into position. It only needs hand strength.

7) Put the "T" connector on the aft end of the mid cable. Lie down just a little aft of the location where the mid and aft cables should meet.

8) Pull on the "T" connector. With the pawl disconnected, you will have an easy time getting enough slack. (Remember to have the e-brake pedal in the UP position or you will still be about 1/2" short).

9) Put the two rear cable tabs into the "T" connector.

10) Reconnect the pawl spring with the needle nose pliers. Be careful you do not lose the spring behind the interior body panel. I almost did. Would have added some time to the project.

11) This is where the how to breaks down a little. I took the pedal to the floor and installed the recall plastic tab. This is a safety thing. Remember to reinstall this. The brake play was not what I wanted. So, I removed the tab and worked the pedal a couple times. The tension improved drastically. I reinstalled the plastic tab to lock down the pawl on the ratchet.

The e-brake tension is GREAT now. Much better than the stretched out POS that was in there before.

So - 13mm wrench to get the line out.
Needle nose pliers for the spring on the pawl.

This is pretty simple once you know the trick. But, Haynes does not even mention this replacement. None of the shops I talked to knew how to handle this either. I may write this up as a tech article if I get some time. It's not a major how to. But, it ought to be written down somewhere.

If anyone has any questions (including how I got the hand shaped grease print off my forhead... DOH! ) let me know.

Thanks for the suggestions and ideas.

 

I replaced the connector between the front cable and the intermediate cable. In order to get adequate length, I had to remove the plastic shim and spring to release the ratchet. It was stuck and I could not pull the cable out to meet the connector.

I bolted the assembly to the side wall and connected the spring. I cannot remember where the shim goes. The brakes seem to work ok. Can you buy a new shim?? Do I really need the shim?

 

Hi, I have a 1992 Ford F-250 4x4 single cab long bed truck. I was wondering if anyone knows the different lengths for the individual pieces of the parking brake cable setup for my particular truck. Remember, F-250 single cab long bed. Thanks in advance.

 

mr. MKMCHU- is there ANY video on youtube that comes anywhere close to explaining what you wrote up using visuals? I am desperately trying to get my ebrake fixed since in TX we can't get past safety inspection without it. I put two new rear cables on, I have the equalizer, could possibly buy a new adjuster, )i have an older one from salvage yard) and I am up for purchasing a new OEM e-brake pedal assembly if I could attach a new front and intermediate cable and install. I have the pedal assembly disconnected from the side foot well, trying to study the mechanism (hard to get good views, etc.) It is pretty beat up looking, no adjuster clips, no white or cream colored plastic part, and when installed, the front won't meet the rear cables using the equalizer only... using the adjuster, too much slack.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

Please, when asking questions, list ALL the pertinent info.

What year/series truck is it, what is the wheelbase, 2WD or 4WD?

 

Short bed flare side. it's a '95 XL 4.9L L6 gas, 2WD, non ambulance, etc.manual. Apparently, there may have been a recall on the e-brake pedal assembly, and I read something about a white or cream colored "Plastic clip" that may have been used for some reason. I don't see one. I also don't know if I purchase a new brake pedal assembly if it is in pre or post recall clip condition? I am shooting in the dark here...

 

Posted in wrong thread, whoops.

 

Thanks. Brought up a thread I needed to read.
See? It's all good.

Randy