Hey All! Well I finally got a chance to get some work done on my 71' and low and behold, the parking brake is frozen. She's a three on the tree and will only go in reverse .... I removed and cleaned all of the drums sprayed two cans of WD40 on all of the cables. After two hours I figured I call for back-up. Any ideas to help me along? It's not that driving in reverse is a bad thing at least she's moving again!:bananaman Thanks in advance! Jay.....
remove the cables and soak them in atf. sometimes that will loosen them up. but if the parking brake is frozen on, then how did you get the drums off? if you can get the drums off the car, then it shouldnt it move when the drums are on? are you sure the cables are the problem?
Good point... It took a fair share of prying and hammering to get them loose & I was able to loosen the adjuster enough to get them off. but I did manage to get each one off. The reason I figured it was the cables is that the handle has no resistance. when I released the handle there was zero tension either way. still :confused:
It's not uncommon for the sheathed cables in the rear to freeze up over years, especially if the emergency brake is rarely used. I just had to replace the ones on my '86 Bronco II I just bought for the same reason. Usually, when they do freeze up, they need to be replaced. I've heard of some removing them and soaking then in a bath of penetrating oil to try to free them up, but I don't personally know of a lot of success doing that. When they freeze, the braided cables may fray and weaken because they've rusted inside the sheath so you'd be better off replacing them than trying to save them.
i agree that replacement is always better. are they still available? i did mine in the atf last year and so far they are doing fine. depends on finances and availability.
