The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1952 3100 parking brake

While in process of restoring a 1952 Chevy 3100, and attempting to install new parking brake cables (right side first), the brake cable diameter is bigger than the bracket opening. Trying open, or widen the "slit", the top broke off. Oooops. Now there are 2 problems, replacing the right side cable bracket oh joy, and figuring out how to NOT make that mistake on the left side. How does the cable get in that bracket? It seems simple enough.....apparently not for me. So how is this accomplished. Thank you all in advance, Ben


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You have the wrong cables. I ran into the same problem with my ‘52. The cables that came with the truck physically were too big for the brackets and were strapped on the brackets with cable ties. I bought new cables from LMC Truck and they fit the brackets perfectly.

Unfortunately, some of the cables sold from many of the venders are not correct for our trucks.

Phil just looking at your picture and was curious about the groove on the cable and was thinking should the groove go were the bolt goes through the bracket to hold the cable housing from moving without pinching the cable.

Kevinski, there are two grooves on the steel sleeve. The bolt pass thru one that prevents the cable from moving. The second, the one you see is for the rubber boot. If you get the right cable it works perfectly without having to spread the bracket.

I still haven’t found a source for the cable boots that don’t fail after a month or two.

Should you decide to use LMC as your source, the part number is 34-3806.

Okay so it is all good it is locked in thanks my cables are old but still working ,I use my brake all the time and now I always turn the wheel to nit the curb if I am on a hill after reading the post about how these brakes can let go .

Good idea. In the old days they used to teach us that in Driver's Ed. class. Not sure if they still do. I'm betting probably not, especially since standard transmissions are not that common any more.

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I wonder how many of those parking brake failures were caused by unsuspecting “bolters” installing cables that are not correctly engineered for our trucks. In my research for the proper cables, more venders sell the ill fitting cables, than the ones that actually fit our trucks.

If your cable end looks like the one in the first picture, don’t use it, as there is nothing but clamping pressure stopping that cable sheath from moving, rendering your parking brake useless. In addition, how much clamping force can you put on a plastic sheathed cable with a stamped steel end. IMHO it’s an accident waiting to happen.

The proper cable end has a steel barrel approximately 1-1/2”-2” long, that has two grooves as shown in the second photo. The bolt used to clamp the cable also passes thru to engage one groove, positioning the cable sheath properly and preventing it from moving forward or backwards even if the clamp bolt is loose.

Before you buy replacement cables, make sure of what your buying.

I ran into this years ago and I see that some of the vendors still sending the wrong cable.

Kevin my brakes would pop off all the time until I found that the Tee Handle on the release rod was hitting the dash bracket after setting the brake. All I had to do was turn out the handle one or two turns and locked it in place with a nut. So far so good but still not trusting it alone.

I got sent the wrong cables too. Ended up taking my original cables to a truck shop that makes push/pull cables for industrial applications. Turned out really nice.