E-brake cable adjustment

[burdar]

Is there a specific procedure for adjusting the e-brake cables on a 71-74?(with intermediate cable)  Too tight and the brakes would be applied.  Too loose and the cable would hang down.   Do the rear brakes need to be adjusted before adjusting the e-brake system? 

There's a bracket that hooks into the trans x-member.  Does the cable just loop through that piece?  Does anyone have a pic of it?  I'm not finding the pics I thought I had.

[Road_Runner]

I need to know how to do this myself as the parking brake on my Barracuda goes all the way to the firewall before catching.  Hopefully, those in the know will be chiming in shortly.

Later, Jim

[burdar]

I've been working on this all night and I'm 

Somethings not right.  I compaired the stock intermediate cable to the new one and they are the same length.  I can't even get everything hooked up.  Something is too short.  I'm leaning toward the rear cables.  I need some pics and measurements if somone has them.

[Topcat]

I
There's a bracket that hooks into the trans x-member.  Does the cable just loop through that piece? 

Yes!

[Bullitt-]

Darren, measured a rear cable and from the mounting bracket to the ball on the end is about 8"...I do not have my cables adjusted tight.

[burdar]

Right now I've got about 6 1/2" from the retaining clip to the end of the ball.  The original lines are about 8" to the end of the ball.

With the DS rear cable hooked up...and the intermediate cable routed all the way to the PS rear cable...I'm about 3" short.  The nut on the adjusting hook is all the way at the end.

Shouldn't a hardware store sell braided cable?  I wonder if they'd be able to crimp new balls on the ends?  That would be the easiest fix....get another length of braided cable about 4" longer.

The overall length of the cables is the same.  The new ones look like they have a longer outer body which would make them short when hooked into the frame brackets. 

[Grec]

The way I did mine was to simply tighten up the adjusting hook until it would hold on my steep driveway with pedal about 2/3 to 3/4 to floor. It's actually loosened up as the rear brakes have settled in and I need to tighten it up a bit more.

I'm surprised you're having trouble even getting everything to hook up. There was quite a bit of slack in mine to take out... 

[burdar]

Where did you get your kit?  I got mine from Fine Lines.  I called them today and they said they don't make the kits.  They get them from "The Right Stuff Detailing".  I called "The Right Stuff Detailing" and talked to a guy who gave me the length of the cables.  I measured mine tonight and here's what I found.

New rear cables 34 3/8" total length.....22 3/4" jacket length
Original rear cables 35 1/2" total length.....23 1/2" jacket length

The original cables are 1 1/8" longer then the new ones.  That right there is a 2 1/4" difference.  Just for the heck of it, I measure how much of the front cable was sticking out of the frame.

New cable sticking out of the frame 13 1/4"
original cable stuck out of the frame 14 1/4"

So, I'm short a total of roughly 3 1/4".  I'm going to call "The Right Stuff Detailing" again tomorrow and see what we can do.

Also, the new bracket that mounts to the trans x-member is an inch shorter then my original one.  That pulls the intermediate cable farther away from the rear cables too.

[burdar]

Just got off the phone with The Right Stuff.  They don't make the cables in-house and can't make me a custom length intermediate cable.  They said there must be something wrong with their kit and to remove everything and send it back to Fine Lines for a refund.

I'm going to go to a hardware store and see if they have the abilitly to crimp those little ball things on the end of braided cable.

[Grec]

I would be hesitant to rely on a home crimp to make that cable. if your brakes ever fail, that's gonna be all you got. Just a thought.

As for my kit, I got it from Inline Tube. It was very close to original in appearance and more importantly, installed without a hitch. Hardest part was getting the connector that goes into the actual pedal assembly to seat properly. :-) Great price, too.

I've had good luck with those guys on the three things I've gotten from them: E-brake setup, fuel lines and front flex brake lines.

[burdar]

I just got the lengths of the Inline Tube cables.  I haven't measured my front cable yet but the rear cables and the intermediate cable are shorter then my original ones.

The only other idea I had was to cut the clips in half(that connect the rear cables to the intermediate cable) and lengthen them.  Making each one 2" longer should be enough.

[Chryco Psycho]

best bet is to get one more cable coupler & have a 3-4" cable as needed made to lengthen the intermediate cable

[burdar]

Fine Lines and The Right Stuff can't make me a new intermediate cable.  Neither of them make the cables in-house.  That's what I wanted to do.  That's why I thought a hardware store might have the tool to crimp new ends onto some braided cable.

[Grec]

I'm really confused as to why you're coming up so short. It's not as if there's a lot of variance in the distances we're talking about here. ie, crossmember is always in the same place in relation to the rear end, etc. A Challenger is a Challenger in this respect.

Everything between the front and rear cables was missing from my car when I got it, so I couldn't put them side-by-side, but still... the new setup went in with plenty of slack to spare.

Not to insult you with an obvious question, but your pedal isn't depressed, is it? Lol.

[burdar]

The pedal is up.  I checked it multiple times to make sure it was all the way up and the cable was all the way out. 

Inline Tube rear cable length 34 3/4"
original 35 1/2"

intermediate cable Inline Tube 86"
original roughly 89.5"

I'm going to get the car on the ground and the engine running.  I'll deal with this a little later.  They person I talked to at Fine Lines said to use silver solder to attach new balls onto the braided cable if I go that route.