The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts emergency brake froze

1948 chevy 4100 emergency brake goes to rear end it is disconnected from cable can I tap tab on backing plate back and forth to free it up ?

Hy banditosmith, yes you can do that, spray lots of your favorite lube on the backing plate, and tap tap tap away, good luck

I second that, use a hammer lightly at first, then heavier as needed. Careful not to smack the bleeder. I'd be careful about getting to much lube inside the backing plate, as brakes and lube don't generally work well together.

My thought, anyway.

-Michael

not sure how the ebrake set up is on 48 but it sounds the similar to my 38. on my 38 the cables were also frozen within the sleeve. do you have rods going to the cables then the cables attach to the lever going into backing plate? if so are the cables disconnected from rods and from the lever in the backing plate? inside the drum you find the lever attaches to the two pieces to expand the brakes these piviot points may also be frozen. with the brakes adjusted here may not be a lot of movement of the levers. I was able to get 1.5 ton reproduction ebrake cabeles thru antique auto supply in texas. now to make up new rods for the ebrake and i will be in good shape.good luck

I liked the transmission mounted ebrake on my 54 much easier to get working.

I pulled the e-brake lines off completely on a '53 4400, got a big aluminum pan and filled her up with WD-40 and gave those lines a bath for a couple of days. A little persuasion, a little coaxing, and a lot of patience - what choice do you have? Can't find those bad boys new anywhere on the planet, but at least my recipe worked for me. Good luck, Buddy.

here is a tip to keep them working smoothly: melt them full of beeswax and they will work smothly forever.

do what hack 85 says soak em in diesel or wd40. Left mine for 2 weeks in diesel. worked a treat.