Parking Brake Cable length? Am I crazy? (1 Viewer)

[Texas Navy]

Hey all. Truck is a 1997 80-series that I got about 10 months ago. Parking brake has never worked (read that as the level is easy to pull and does nothing). I've been redoing the brakes on the thing and finally got around to trying to figure that out.

The gist of it is that the cable is still hooked up to the rear passenger brake backing plate, but on the driver's side it was just cable-tied to the hard axle line. I clipped the cable ties, and no matter how I heave on it, or what position the handle is in in the truck, the cable seems to be about 2 inches too short to reach the backing plate where it's supposed to hook up. I really feel like I'm taking crazy pills. The FSM isn't super helpful. What am I missing? Is there some trick to it?

Please help.

Thanks folks.

 

[LandLocked93]

Pics would be helpful.
I'm not hugely familiar, but there is an adjustment at the handle too.
Perhaps it is adjusted too short there?
Or there are parts missing? These tend to stretch and over-reach the full adjustment range provided. They can only be replaced at that point.
Perhaps it is stretched and the PO tried some off-book shortening strategy that didn't work.

 

[IdahoDoug]

If you disconnect from one side, the cable to the other side may be floppy or hang down where it might catch on something. So if/when that was done, the PO may have taken up all the slack from the central adjuster where the two sides join? Is there a L/R adjuster? If so, loosening that may give you enough slack to reconnect, though I would not do it without at least opening up the currently disconnected side to see what's going on inside. If you don't look, reconnecting may create a problem and possibly a danger.

 

[Texas Navy]

I'll go take some pics after the kids go to bed. Thanks for the suggestions. The PO didn't appear to know a lot about it, though I bought it 8-10 months after he did - he decided he wanted a 100-series instead. So who know how long it's been like that...

I really don't want to rebuild the whole thing, but I also don't want to die in an accident, so....it might be time to bite the bullet.

 

[Texas Navy]

Pics... The dangling bit is the driver's side, the connected one is the passenger side, and the last is me holding it up showing the difference. Honestly, I'm not sure if the "released" position (i.e. non-braking) is with the arms out against the backing plate, or toward the axle. Maybe that's it?

Under there this time, the length I need doesn't appear to be adjustable on the cable, since it's just parallel to the axle. I'm still stumped.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[BILT4ME]

These are known to get rusty and stick in the "on" position, whether it's the cable sticking or the levers on the rear axle.

You need to pull the rear wheels and rotors to inspect the parking brake shoes. Maybe there's nothing left and they were sticking so the PO disconnected so they wouldn't get stuck on again.

Start at the shoes and work forward. Otherwise ignore it.

I use my parking brake all the time. Prior to that the levers would stick and is have to hammer them back out. I took them apart with a chisel and punch, then cleaned every piece with wire wheel, then painted, and greased the heck.outmif them with white lithium grease and packed it into the rubber boot to prevent more water intrusion. Works great for 9 years now.

 

[jonheld]

That cable looks like it has been adjusted too tight at the handle, as there is no left/right adjustment. However, I would heed what @BILT4ME said above. You'll need to open things up and see what's what in there before mucking with the cable. Once the brake shoes and all internal parts have been verified and adjusted correctly, the last step is the cable length.

 

[Texas Navy]

Copy all, thanks folks. Suppose I'll get started presently.