Have been browsing the forum for information on parking brakes. Currently on my 89 Pickup DLX 4wd 2.4l. I am missing a cable toward the rear end which I can acquire and fix. MY question. The levers on the outside of the rear drum (bell cranks?) seem to be seized up. I am curious if I should be able to move these freely by hand. If so, my are not moving, shall I try PB blasting them to free it up or do I need to tear down the rear drums and fix. Looking for some insight. This forum is great I have already found 4 fixes for issues within one hr.

Thanks
Justin

 

Yes they are called bell cranks. Those should be able to move freely but because of moisture, salt, lack of movement if the brake isn't used and the fact that the bell crank bracket is made of a different metal (magnesium???) than the steel bell crank itself. Mine was seized on my 88 4Runner and had to break apart the brackets to get the bell cranks out. It's some work but doable because the bracket is softer. I then ground all the rust off the bell crank where it goes through the bracket. I actually ground it down a little so it had a looser fit to fight off corrosion. Make sure you also buy new (rubber) bellcrank boots to seal out moisture and when I put it all back together, I Never Seized the snot out of it where the bell crank goes through the bracket. I forget how much they were at the dealer but not too bad if I recall correctly. Reuse the bell cranks though...I think they were a little $$$. But you don't need new ones when you can use the old. When I peeled back the boots to look at the bell crank and bracket, I ruined the boots. But I was able to see that there was a lot of corrosion there. Maybe yours are not that bad. If you can get them moving and the brackets aren't all corroded, take it all apart, clean and lube the hell out of it without buying new parts. It all depends on what condition the parts are in. Good luck bro. Hope this helps.

 

Just go to the dealer buy the bell crank brackets buy the pins clean up the bell cranks

While your in there may as well get the inside drum linkage as well parking brake cables.

Also make sure the adjusters are free and working good a little disc brake grease helps

Never seize is your friend.

This is a common problem most dealers stock these parts.

remember your vin

 

Yeah, just did all that myself.
You have to pull the tire, and drum...get the 2 bolts off the bellcranks (you also pop the pin out that holds the cable at the cranks' tops). They come right out. Then knock 'em with a ball peen hammer, get some of the crud out. PB, sit overnight. PB, heat...sit overnight...PB, more ball peen (so really, it's "PB, BP"). Don't hit the magnesium housing much, or it will snap! (one of mine did, my buddy had a spare).

Eventually, you'll be able to get a 16d nail, or a punch, in beside the arm and scoop junk out, and continue PBing. After 3-5 days, I was able to get mine going. Once the arm moves at all, you can start banging it back and forth with the hammer.
Some guys remove the C clip and pop the pin out - that can work (it did for one of mine - and it's how I broke the other!).
When you get it nice a free (should move effortlessly), grease the hell out of the inside, and put that boot back over. Reinstall....hook it all up, and you're good to go.

Once it's back in, and you get the adjustment cable IN the drum back on, test the adjuster to be sure it ratches. Then new cable, and you're done!
Good luck.

 

I don`t even mess with trying to free them up.

I don`t often have that kind of time to mess with them over a few days.

Most I just cut with a zip disc on both sides of the bell crank

 

I forgot about those pins...I bought those also. I was using PB Blaster as well as Kano AeroKroil and those bellcranks would not move. The bolts were pretty bad as well. My solution was to bust out the old brackets. I did a rear brake job as well with new shoes and hardware. I also had to mess with the parking brake arms that connect to the cable and make extensions for them because the PO put 1" blocks under the rear springs. He also added a leaf as well and the cable was rubbing the top leaf...not good. I also used a spacer at the swivel point for the two cables that go to each drum to raise that as well. I didn't want to mess with the old u bolts yet as they were really corroded also. But it worked. I not only used NeverSieze on the bellcrank but I also loaded the new boots with GreenGrease. They should be good for awhile.

 

Good deal....I got one freed up, and snagged another one from my friend. No labor was required, just sprayed it and let it sit, time invested was <1/2 hour. Greased 'em both up, and now the brake is working...