The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Parking brake cable issue...

Hello All,

I have recently purchased some parking brake cables for my '53 3/4 ton Chevrolet from Chevy Duty. They sent the all-thread extensions to compensate for the extra wheelbase...but I am still having problems getting the cable to loosen up enough so that I can fit the drums over the shoes to make my final adjustments. It appears that the shoes aren't snugging up against the anchor pin up top and I think it is because the cable is about 1/4 - 1/2 inch too short. I think that I have the cable end installed properly in the fulcrum lever that activates the brakes and that is the only thing that I can think of. Has anyone had this problem...is it something elementary that I am missing. I emailed Tech Support at Chevy Duty and they made mention of the all-thread attachments and to make sure that I had those installed. However, they are almost certainly not the problem. I have some pictures but I am not sure how to post them, so if they will help anyone please let me know and I can email them. Thanks a lot.

If my memory serves me right I think the threads on the adjuster are 3/8 SAE. You can buy grade five or eight fine thread all thread rod and this along with the really long nuts that fastener places carry for such uses as heaters hung from a ceiling would let you make your own extenders to whatever length that would work. It's a bummer that what you paid good money for doesn't work but the fact is you still need to get them hooked up. Just one idea. Good luck

Well, I bought some parking brake cables from Chevy Duty too, for my 3/4 ton. I put mine on at the drum first. Then I noticed that they were too short to fit in the mounting brackets (halfway between the rear end and cab on both sides) These are junk.... an extension? looks like [censored], if you ask me. I still haven't figured out what to do. I never did call Chevy Duty about it because from previous poor service, I knew it wouldn't do any good, they'd just say it's my fault and no returns if installed- like they did with my brake line set- got a 1/2 ton kit instead of the 3/4 ton. For you guys that know about them, the 1/2 ton front-to-rear line is a lot longer. I took several digital pictures, told them over and over it was wrong, pointed out it showed clearly in the factory assembly manual it was wrong.... and they refused to do anything. Now that I think about it, I should have had my credit card deny them payment.

Disconnect the cables & install the drums. Adjust the brakes & then hook up the cables extending them as nesessary.

I ran into the same problem, Wrenchbender is correct, adjust the parking brake ecentric cam on the brake shoes, install the drums, adjust the shoes and I would bet that the cables should fit then.

Hey Guys,

Yeah, the extensions sure don't help if you're going for originality but they are functional. Wrenchbender and Mike, thanks for the info...one more question...the parking brake ecentric cam? I haven't seen that item listed in my Factory Assembly manual or anything else, where is it? If that requires some adjustment that I am not doing, then I think y'all have nailed the problem. Thanks again and keep turning the wrenches.

-Shane

I didn,t even remember about those till Mike mentioned it. The bolt that holds the e-brake lever to the shoe is eccentric. You can loosen the nut & turn the bolt to adjust it.

You called it Mike, I have been adjusting the eccentric cam and it seems that the tops of the shoes are pulling in towards the anchor pin. Question is, how fine an adjustment is this? Is it a full 360 degree rotation or does it take multiple rotations of the bolt to get the exact adjustment? Thanks for all the help, this one was starting to reach the boiling point for me b/c I couldn't figure out what was wrong and having to go from memory on the disassembly rarely serves its purpose. Thanks to you too Wrench. Lots of help and more importantly a good shot in the arm to get things moving again.