Little steel cable in the brake drums . . . what is it?
 

Hi Everybody,

I was showing my 66 to a guy who was interested in buying it and we pulled off the front wheels to check out the brakes. On the passenger side front wheel, the little cable thing that starts at the top of the drum, goes down through the curved channel and attaches at the bottom to the automatic adjuster piece, was fraying.

I checked the other wheels and theirs were all normal. This cable was just a few strands away from breaking entirely, so I'm glad I caught it before it tore up the front drum.

The problem is I took it off, brought it to the parts shop to match it up, and they could not identify the little cable in their computer system. They said that it was not in the brake hardware package -- only springs and clips were in there.

Does anyone know the formal name of this piece? It doesn't seem like an overly-complicated part . . . but the Advance Auto Parts girl didn't know where to look for it in their computer system . . .

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all!

I think it may be called "Drum Brake Self Adjuster Cable"? Here are some links: Google

It is the self adjuster cable like Will said...most people take them off and toss them...but were there originally from the factory. If you have a factory shop manual, they can be seen in the pic of the brake assemblies(section 2).


- cs65

C4UZ2A176A .. Right Front or Right Rear Brake Shoe Adjusting Lever Cable Assy.

Fits: 1964/83 F100 // 1975/96 F150 // 1964/96 E100/150 // 1967/96 Bronco.

E & F100/Bronco's with drum brakes use four, one on each drum (two rights, two lefts). One right/one left is used on E/F100/150/Bronco's with disc brakes-rear drums only.

Today, this right cable is (usually) sold as part of a kit that also comes with one left side cable (C4UZ2A177A), the levers and the cable guides.

Tell the clueless pinhead to look up "brake self adjuster kit."

Those cables should be easy to find. Not surprising that I couldn't find the cable on Advance Auto's website... it's been very disappointing since they changed it a while back. Anyway, I found the cable on Autozone's site... they call it a Brake Self Adjuster Cable/Link. P/N H2107B price: $4 for a pair.

"but the Advance Auto Parts girl didn't know where to look for it in their computer system . . .:-X19

Nothing is more frustrating than having to go step by step on a computer to determine a parts listing item. I hate it when I go to the parts store and they need to know everything except the vehicle color to look up a part! I even give them my blood type sometimes just to harass them back.

Mitch

Make sure you get the correct part, since...according to FoMoCo, there is no such thing as a brake self adjuster Cable/Link.

What is Auto-Zone actually selling for $4 a pair? The two cables, or...the two cables guides, or...the two adjusting levers?

Heh, O'reilly's is selling a pair of cables for $1.99

Item Detail | O'Reilly Auto Parts

Hey guys,

Thank you all for your responses. I finally found them at AutoZone, but they were $9.99 for the pair. :( I wish there was an O'Reilly's around here . . .

At least I'll have the problem fixed.

Thank you!