So, I was up playing in the mountains with a 6 inch lifted GMC with 35" super swampers (non-related, just a helluva truck), and I stopped on an incline to inspect part of the road that had washed out, and I cranked the e-brake a wee bit too hard and *SNAP* the cable breaks.

Damn my huge muscles.

Anyhoo, is this a pain in the ass to repair yourself, or am I best off letting the dealership do it? I've never dabbled in the e-brake before.

 

it matters where it broke at, if you get under there, it should go back to a lever with an adjustment nut on it, and this lever also increases the leverage of the cable to the rear drums, my guess that it may have broke there, or possibly under your dash. i would recomend doing this yourself, see what broke, go to junkyard, or dealer to buy parts, fix it, unless you like paying labor charges which are around $100/hr

 

Ditto, shouldn't be too bad, its just a metal cable right? Try it yourself. Beware about driving around alot. At least when I've snapped them before, the rear brake pads put light pressure on the drum and get pretty hot.

 

Yikes....I have a bad habit of yanking mine pretty hard whenever I park. I think I'll be a bit more gentle now...thanks for setting an example

 

Scofco, what was the outcome?

After i got off work last night, i pulled the e-brake like always (probably too hard) and *snap* it went
So now im wondering how hard/easy it would be to replace myself and how much a new one costs? I think mine broke from under the dash...

edit: If anybody else has replaced their e-brake cable, please chime in.

 

i did mine a while back, if it is the front and you dont have a lift,there is not much room behind the engine to get your hand in there to open the little tabs to get the cable out and bend them back after you install the new cable.

i havent done the rear ones, yet. having said that, im sure they will decide to give me the opportunity soon enough. at the end of the p/brake handle assy, there is a small switch that you unbolt, reach up under the dash where the t handle exits the dash panel, feel around on the top and you will feel small pauls (sp) that you release to allow the handle to retract a bit further to allow the barrel on the end of the cable to be removed from the end of the handle. go under the rig and unbolt a couple of clamps along the inside of the frame/body and unclip the cable from the small clip where it passes through to the pivot arm. do this job when the engine is cold, the tranny, exhaust pipes and other assorted bits and pieces are sharp. with a lifted rig, it shouldnt take much longer than an hour to an hour and a half slightly longer for non lifted.

lee

 

Mines toast somewhere under the dash area. It ended up being one of those projects set aside as it's not a huge deal.

Probably should fix it though

 

thanks leebee!

Scofco, you posted this almost a year ago and still no e-brake?! Theres no way i can go that long...mines been broke for 2 days now but i still pull it forgetting that its usless



I'll let you know how it goes when i attempt to replace it.