parking brake cable clean-out?

[pybyr]

Hello all--

My 89 Bricknose 350 has had really twitchy rear brakes since, about a month ago. Now kicking myself for having fallen out of the habit (most of my life) of always using the P-Brake, because it is clear that at least part of the problem is that the parking brake cables are crudded up (perhaps from not having been used). Now the truck will bark the back tires with only moderate application of the brake pedal.

I asked about this a few weeks ago and people said to do a manual adjustment of the brakes. But I am also due for inspection and can't have a situation where the brakes go out of whack if the parking brake is put on.

Where I live, we have severe winters with salt, and unpaved backroads with immense amounts of mud, dust, etc.- so this is really hostile to cables (and everything else).

Is there a way to somehow clean out/ clean up the parking brake cables so that they move freely again? I hesitate to put any lube in/ on as it may just attract and retain grit. I'm also cash-constrained in a way that I really don't want to get into throwing parts at it unless there's truly no other option.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Goofyexponent]

Yes, remove them completely, hang them up and and start soaking them on kroil or PB blaster until it comes running out the bottom of the cable.

Then move them back and forth until they free up and move easily. This might or might not work.

If you replace them, soak them down before you install the new ones!!

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

An old-timey trick that works with just about any type of cable, i.e. brake-cables, choke-cables, throttle-cables, etc., is to heat a large round pan of oil ON AN OUTSIDE STOVE, and submerge the entire cable, sort of coiled up, in the hot oil.


You want the oil pretty hot, but not smoking hot; when oil starts to smoke, it is about to burst into flames.


Of course to do this, the cables must be removed from the truck.

As big a chore as it is to remove the park-brake cables, and no more costly than new ones are, once you get the old ones out, you will splurge and get new ones.

It helps to pre-lube the new cables prior to installing, either by the hot oil method, or by the hanging method described in the previous post.