QuestionQUESTION: Hi Brian:
I am working on my neighbor's 1994 Ford Bronco and although I realize this is a few years older than what you mention as your area of expertise, I was hoping maybe you could still help, as this park brake system may still have been used into the 2000's I am just not very familiar with Ford products, as I drive & service primarily Chrysler vehicles.
I have just replaced the intermediate and left rear parking brake cables. The front cable to intermediate link is about 1 1/2 inches too short to hook up, and there is no threaded adjustment rod on this vehicle (which I am accustomed to on most other trucks I have serviced, including F-150's). I have tried to locate information elsewhere online and can only find that it may have a self-adjusting park brake pedal assy, for which I can find no information on how to release or back off the pedal to gain that space if it is. I am fairly well versed in auto-mechanics and short of a lift, have a fairly well supplied garage as auto restoration is my main hobby, though I usually work on older vehicles.
Any direction would be most appreciated.
Thanks,
John
ANSWER: silly question but i have to ask, have you made sure the parking brake lever in the rear shoes is fully retracting ??? if they seize even just a little. you will experience exactly what your experiencing
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QUESTION: Hi Brian:
Thanks for the response.
Not a silly question at all. I understand how little things can be missed and yet can wreak havoc. Yes, I did check that and both levers operated freely when I took them apart, and I checked them again before I reassembled everything. I disassembled both rear brake assemblies, cleaned everything up, freed & lubed the self-adjusters and made sure the right cable worked well since I didn't replace that one. The left cable was seized and so was replaced. The shoes had lots of lining left, probably 6/32" (I didn't gauge them though# and the springs looked good and felt strong. And I did ensure that the primary and secondary shoes were in the correct locations during reassembly. I adjusted the brakes up to where they just rubbed the drums then backed off a few notches with the brake tool. With both rear wheels in the air, I can easily spin them but if I grab the intermediate cable and pull on it, both rear wheels stop well even with just hand pressure. So that seemed to be working well.
Being that the cable ends are so far apart, I am just at a loss to figure out where to pick up that much length. If they were a half inch apart, then I would suspect something like you mention, but at an inch and a half, I can't see where to come up with that much cable other than either the park brake pedal, or I suppose there's a chance the intermediate cable could be wrong. The part number on the package is correct, but I guess you never know. I figured that if everything was right, they probably would be about a half inch apart, so when I would pull the rear cables forward, I could then slip the intermediate cable into the connector. The way it stands now, even when I pull the rear cables as far forward as I can, I'm still not even touching the connector.
Anyway, thanks for looking into this and if you have any more ideas, please let me know.
Take care,
John
Answerare you able to get any slack from the front cable coming from the parking brake pedal ?? you should be able to gain 1" to 2" from the pedal itself. if you grasp the front cable with a pair of vise grips or dikes, you should be able to gain that. let me know
