I was pulling into Steak N Shake (yum) the other night, just another routine parking I thought. It was a completely level parking lot but I pulled the e-brake anyway (it's just habit and I'm of the better safe than sorry mindset with my vehicle). To my dismay, the lever pulled back, then back some more, then back a little bit. This afternoon I was checking the line because something was obviously amiss. I discovered that the area of the line that connects to the arm below the passenger's seat was heavily corroded (hanging on by a few threads, literally). I moved on down to the rear wheels and noticed something else that really got me as quite strange... The driver's side emergency brake cable was not attached to the e-brake caliper!

Now, this brake line is a year and a half old and it's already shot, which I guess can be attributed to the notorious auto-rust problem around here, but how often does a bolt slip completely out of place like that? Now I have to take it in to get a new line.

Okay, now that I'm done ranting and what not, does anybody here on the forums have a similar experience? Are those e-brake lines just that unreliable, or is someone trying to sabotage my truck, or what?

 

Sorry you're having trouble. I don't know about the life expectancy of the lines, but I was wondering if Davenport is using salt or one of the liquid de-icers? They both seem to be very corrosive, but to different parts.

 

Are they ever. They used an obscene amount of the liquid stuff this season. The salt was much more bearable, apparently this stuff eats through whatever the cable is made of.

 

Flobadon,

Check out my "Cupholder" write up. There's a part on the ebrake. I doubt that its much different from yours. Maybe it'll help you diagnose the problem.

Bob

 

This is an old thread but similar problem except when I pulled the parking brake handle I broke the cable. Broke under the truck in the same location mentioned above where he said only a few strands of wire were left intact.

Bought a new cable from Toyota but the connection to the parking brake handle is above the transmission somewhere and you have to fish the cable under the tranny tunnel from under the truck. Anybody know how to reach this???

 

I had the same problem a couple months ago (93 P/UP). I also replaced the seal around my steering column at the same time (a little bit more time than I thought!!). Anyway, as I recall, I found a tech article somewhere on Toyota Off Road I think, but I can't locate it right now. Anyway, my cable connected right at the handle. I was then able to pull the old ebrake cable through the firewall and disconnect it from the handle. If you crawl around under the rig (prior to pulling the old cable) trace where it goes. Mine went through the firewall and right over the tranny to the passenger side frame and then went to the connection to the brakes. Living in NE it was rusty, and the old connections for the cable would not come loose (so I cut them with an angle grinder and zip tied the new cable in place for now). It was frustrating getting the cable over the tranny, but with a few deep breaths it can be done. Hope this helps a little bit. If you need pics/more info let me know and I will see what I can do.

 

Thanks for the help. I'm sure I'll have problems with the rust too. Before I get to the brake cable I have to replace my rear driveshaft which I dented at Paragon Adventure Park this past weekend.