The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Adjusting the E-Brake Cables

Hi all,
I need to adjust the cables on the stock e-brake set-up on my 57 Chevy truck.
What is the correct way to adjust them?

Thanks!

with the handle fully released, adjust those threaded cable ends so the cable is just tight without actually pulling the lever inside the drum, make both as close to the same as ya can - make sure both nuts are tightened well on each cable to lock the position and hold the tension - then bob's yer unkl

Bill

Make sure that the brake shoes are adjusted first though.....

What about the cable running from the front of the truck? looks like it screws into a "fork" looking bracket? same thing?

GMCnut,
Yes brake shoes are adjusted but still having trouble getting banjo bolt in MC to not leak...

Thanks guys!

yes, you want that front section just loose enough so when released that midway "pivot bar" is about like your pic, just shy of the end of the slot, so it has as much forward movement as possible to allow full travel of the handle without hitting the other end of the slot .... also, make sure the wheel in the frame bracket there is lubed, they do tend to sieze up so the cable is rubbing back and forth getting damaged instead of turning

Bill

If you want to make sure that your rear individual cables are adjusted evenly, you can prop the rear end up on jack stands and gradually pull the park brake handle a few clicks out, until both rear wheels just start to feel resistance from the brakes coming on. I don't know how important that is though.

The cable running back to the "fork" is all the way tight against the bar . But the cable is still very loose and when I pull the ebrake It does not look the wheels up.

I'd say you got the front cable for a long bed Jon, might need to change that out for a short bed one - not likely to take up that much slop by cutting the threaded end back, but you might manually pull it tight and guestimate if that's possible

Bill