On my '48 1.5 tons, I cut out all of the factory cable stuff and replaced it with standard cable. No sleeves to freeze up or rust up. I just cable clamped some heavy cable to the levers coming out of the backing plate and then to the pivot on each side. Then ran one up to the lever from the pivot. Until all of the stretch is out of the cables, you may need to readjust it from time to time.
That's my cheap and easy fix, Scott
