Parking Brake Cable

[deerio]

Hey all, I was doing some cleanup and realized my cable (the short one that goes from the handle to the driver-side bracket) is frayed. At this point it is still functional but I want to find a replacement. Any sources? Or a possible substitute?

 

 

[dp320]

Not sure of local, maybe 

 

Brake & Clutch Supply Inc
www.brakeandclutchsupply.com
2930 6th Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98134
 

can do it. 

 

I sent my main cable to a place in MI who was able to replicate it.  About $130, IIRC.  I'll have to look up the receipt for the name of the place.  Call me after work.

[Doctor510]

??? what kind of car/truck????

[wayno]

The two cables in back of the e-brake cross member going from the drums to the pull part in the middle are all the same from the 1962 320 all the way thru the 1972 521, they all are all the same except for little things.

Some of the 320 cables came with zerk fittings to lube the cable ends, I have not seen these on the 521.

[deerio]

Roland, thanks for that lead, I'll stop by after work tomorrow morning.

 

Wayne, that's what I thought. Fortunately the rest of my line looks decent, it's just this short portion that I need to replace at the moment.

 

Doctor510, sorry I thought it was self-explanatory being that it's posted in the 320 forum. But to clarify, it's for a '63 L320.

[wayno]

It's the short piece going threw the floorboards from the e-brake handle to the first lever, correct?

There has to be a place that can make them, I know that a hangglider cable rigger could make that piece easy, any place that makes cables for anything should be able to make it.

[deerio]

Yep that's the one. I was thinking the same thing, I just wasn't sure where to start.

[wayno]

You could make one yourself if you had to, but it would look homemade.

I believe if one wanted to make the effort, you could also make something out of round stock and a couple collars or even a piece of threaded stock and a couple nuts/lock nuts or the like.

Most of that is hidden, but if you want stock looking, you will have to have it made.

[datzenmike]

You already have the ends. All you need is 3" of 3/16" stainless cable and someone to crimp ferules on the ends. $1.50 and 10 min work.

 

http://almabolt.com/pages/catalog/cables/swagingstops.htm

 

Stops are used to finish or suspend at the end of a cable. Place the stop at the end of cable and use a swaging tool to crimp stop into cable. Stops, when properly applied, are capable of holding one-half the rated breaking strength of the cable. Stocked in aluminum, copper and zinc plated copper. Available for cable/wire diameters from 3/32" to 1/4".

[wayno]

But one has to buy the tool, they are not cheap.

[datzenmike]

Crimp it in a vice or borrow some large bolt cutters. The most this cable will need to hold, even with the leverage, is maybe a hundred pounds.

[dp320]

I typically just smash them with a hammer on the anvil of a vise.  But if you want it to look legit a swaging tool is needed: http://Prime-Line Products GD 52215 Swage-It Tool, 1/16-Inch to 1/8-Inch Cable $20.

[deerio]

Thanks for all the advice. I actually managed to just replace the wire rope today. I bought a foot of 3/16" stainless wire rope from Home Depot and a ferrule kit all for a total of $3. My dad happened to have a swage tool so I had no trouble attaching the ferrule stop to the ends. Fingers crossed it lasts but at this moment it's just used when parked on a level surface so either way it works for me.

 

 

[datzenmike]

That's Ratsun... right there.

[XXL]

That's Ratsun... right there.

 

Plus a few feet of this?  :poke:

 

[datzenmike]

Battery strap? sure.

[wayno]

You can fix a lot with duct tape.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

You can build an airplane with duct tape. I saw it on Mythbusters.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Oh yeah, let us know if it doesn't work. That's a great idea and if you find out otherwise, it would be nice to know.

[deerio]

Oh yeah, let us know if it doesn't work. That's a great idea and if you find out otherwise, it would be nice to know.

If the cable doesn't work?  At the moment it works perfectly.  The only thing is that if I were to do it again I think I would use 1/8" wire rope instead (which I think is the stock cable anyways).  With a 3/16" wire rope the hole that it passes thru on the end links need to be drilled out just slightly.  But that isn't the issue... The problem is that with a 3/16" wire rope, the ferrule stop is too thick to fit in the end links without any kind of binding (I had to grind mine down).  I imagine if 1/8" rope and ferrule is used, no modifications would be needed and would still function properly.

[wayno]

I know you can fix an aircraft with it, short story here.

I was a launch director for the green monster launch at Chelan butte during the womens world meet for hanggliding, we had ladies from all over the world compete, even from the eastern block countries, well I guess the Japanese gals didn't understand what the surveyors tape was for, it was there to mark tie downs for the hanggliders, so when thermals came thru, it did not blow them away or tumble them, well the Japanese gals thought that is what held the glider down instead of a strap made of nylon or Dacron, them little Japanese gals were used to beach winds, well one of them gliders lifted up off the ground and went right into the tip of one of my friends gliders and put a hole in it, her glider was fine, but my friends was bad, well I don't know what was in his mind(my friend), but he used duct tape and patched the hole, launched and flew the longest flight he had ever flown in his life(70 miles), it was a good day except for the tip of his glider.

I was happy to have been a part of that meet, a lot of firsts were done that week, but the most amazing day was when Danny(meet director) called a task that had never even been called in any meet ever, he called a 100 mile out and return task(50 miles out and 50 miles back), there were 33 women that launched, 11 of them completed the task, which is a perfect call, one third of the field completed the task, only me and 3 other guys have done this task to this day, one guy did it faster than the women that day, I did it the next year in a hangglider also, the last two did it in a rigid wing(foot launched sailplane), that is it.

You can build an airplane with duct tape. I saw it on Mythbusters.

[datzenmike]

I only guessed at the 3/16".

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I know you can fix an aircraft with it, short story here.

I was a launch director for the green monster launch at Chelan butte during the womens world meet for hanggliding, we had ladies from all over the world compete, even from the eastern block countries, well I guess the Japanese gals didn't understand what the surveyors tape was for, it was there to mark tie downs for the hanggliders, so when thermals came thru, it did not blow them away or tumble them, well the Japanese gals thought that is what held the glider down instead of a strap made of nylon or Dacron, them little Japanese gals were used to beach winds, well one of them gliders lifted up off the ground and went right into the tip of one of my friends gliders and put a hole in it, her glider was fine, but my friends was bad, well I don't know what was in his mind(my friend), but he used duct tape and patched the hole, launched and flew the longest flight he had ever flown in his life(70 miles), it was a good day except for the tip of his glider.

I was happy to have been a part of that meet, a lot of firsts were done that week, but the most amazing day was when Danny(meet director) called a task that had never even been called in any meet ever, he called a 100 mile out and return task(50 miles out and 50 miles back), there were 33 women that launched, 11 of them completed the task, which is a perfect call, one third of the field completed the task, only me and 3 other guys have done this task to this day, one guy did it faster than the women that day, I did it the next year in a hangglider also, the last two did it in a rigid wing(foot launched sailplane), that is it.

Myth confirmed!

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

If the cable doesn't work?  At the moment it works perfectly. 

It works perfectly now, but will it stand up to all that leverage over time? That's what I want to know.

[dp320]

Myth confirmed!

A friend of mine worked Boeing AOG and has repaired 737's at every imaginable podunk airport on every continent.  There is a fancy duct tape they call "600 mph" tape.  He did a wing repair using this tape that was supposed to last until the plane was flown to a repair facility.  He saw the plane in operation (Africa) a month later with the tape still on it.