The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Huck brakes and reproduction e-brake cables

Just a short word about working on huck brakes on pre-1950 Chevrolet cars and trucks. Be wary of reproduction emergency brake cables when restoring your systems. Yesterday I completed restoration work on the rear brakes of a 1941 Chevy 1/2 ton and was fouled up initially by the emergency brake cables. Comparing the old cable with the new, I found that the spring at the end of the reproduction cable that assists in retracting inside the drum was two long by at least two inches compared to the old and original part. Yes, I do realize that after 80 years, old springs lose their elasticity, but the number of coils shows the new spring to be longer. If you try to use the new cable in the reproduction part, the end of the cable will bunch up in the drum and won't work correctly. I wound the new spring off the end of the cable and wound up using the old spring in its place.


So, I am just putting out there that it's nice to be able to still buy parts for a truck that is 80 years old, but it doesn't necessarily mean that a new or reproduction part if going to fit perfectly. Be wary of part fitment in new parts to avoid frustrations.

One of our members has a YouTube channel and one video is about Huck brakes. He mentions the longer cable and how he remedied it.
Search 1949 Chev 3100 and run through the video titles until you come to it.

I already figured that part out. I am just putting it out there that repro brake cables require modifications and that really shouldn't be the case. IF you read my post, I used the old spring, which is at least two inches shorter than the repro spring. So, not a matter of watching a video, it's back together now.

If it was easier to post a picture on here, I would show the difference.

Charles, have you read the photo instructions in the left margin of every page? Can’t make it any easier.

The instructions, I think, are"

• Either browse for your images or drag and drop. The
attachment manager will only do one at a time.

• If your images are larger than 5MB, they won’t be
accepted (see next step) and you’ll need to resize them.

• Click “done” once you’ve finished selecting images.

However, you can browse/etc on a real computer, but, I think that type of "browsing" might be difficult/impossible on a phone/tablet?

Charles I did read your post and realize you had solved your problem. However I posted what I did in case some other reader might not be as talented as you and needed a picture - or video.