Parking Brake Cables

[Sn8kebitten]

I have a 1996 Cobra with an inoperable parking brake. When I bought the car, the previous owner told me he disconnected the parking brake cables because he thought they were hanging up. I had a tech at my work hook them back up to see what was going on, but they're so loose that they slap against the driveshaft while going down the road, so I have to keep the handle pulled up just to keep them off the driveshaft.

I've read that worn out rear lower control arms could cause this as well, which i plan on replacing soon because mine are original. Where should I start to get these cables working again?

 

[Terrorist 5.0]

SN95’s all have an issue like that to some extent. The lower you go the more noticeable. The cables rub on the driveshaft. First place I would look is where the E brake is welded onto the body. The spot welds break and the whole assembly sags down. Aluminum driveshafts also make the issue worse, as they are thicker than the stock steel driveshafts.

I wouldn’t worry about it too much, because even when they are working they don’t hold the car worth a damn.

 

[Sn8kebitten]

SN95’s all have an issue like that to some extent. The lower you go the more noticeable. The cables rub on the driveshaft. First place I would look is where the E brake is welded onto the body. The spot welds break and the whole assembly sags down. Aluminum driveshafts also make the issue worse, as they are thicker than the stock steel driveshafts.

I wouldn’t worry about it too much, because even when they are working they don’t hold the car worth a damn.

I owned this car from 2009-2015, and the ebrake worked great. Im not sure what happened since then. I just want to get it working again because its the last thing I need to fix before everything works again lol ill check out the weld on the body

 

[cobrajeff96]

It's the thing metal spring steel bracket that holds the front end of the cables to the trans tunnel, it's a weak rivet holding it on. Have someone re-rivet it or just tack weld it straight to the tunnel.

 

[I_LIKE_TURTLEZ]

I'd go straight to the top of the trans tunnel, like Jeff said those rivets break easy and Ford in all their wisdom only put a couple of them despite 100 years of making automobiles. A tradition of brain-dead designs that carries on to 2026.

The rivets break because people crank on the e-brake handle hard, most people are NPC's in this world, no forethought before doing something.

 

[shovel]

Back when I was still dumb enough to routinely try to help people on forums I tried to point out that the normal advice of "pull the brake handle to the sky" when removing the center console would 100% damage the front cable stay and it's much better to disconnect the cables from the rear brakes first, before attempting to remove the center console. As usual the dumbest people ever to be born informed me I'm doing it wrong and that work is unnecessary. OK sorry I tried to help, won't happen again.



Anyway that's what to look for, notice it's not just the rivets there.


New cables aren't that expensive and if you have a dry place to work it's not too difficult to replace them either so go ahead and do the once-every-thirty-years service. And inspect that cable stay, to ensure it hasn't been ripped by some chuckler trying to tear the handle out from the top. Your control arms in back have nothing to do with the effectiveness of the brake, these cables only pull against their own housing so the only place rigidity matters is between the cable stay and the fulcrum of whatever they're pulling. I suppose it's possible that the stay on the axle is rusted.. you'll find that out when you replace the cables.

 

[I_LIKE_TURTLEZ]

Back when I was still dumb enough to routinely try to help people on forums I tried to point out that the normal advice of "pull the brake handle to the sky" when removing the center console would 100% damage the front cable stay and it's much better to disconnect the cables from the rear brakes first, before attempting to remove the center console. As usual the dumbest people ever to be born informed me I'm doing it wrong and that work is unnecessary. OK sorry I tried to help, won't happen again.

View attachment 48032

Anyway that's what to look for, notice it's not just the rivets there.


New cables aren't that expensive and if you have a dry place to work it's not too difficult to replace them either so go ahead and do the once-every-thirty-years service. And inspect that cable stay, to ensure it hasn't been ripped by some chuckler trying to tear the handle out from the top. Your control arms in back have nothing to do with the effectiveness of the brake, these cables only pull against their own housing so the only place rigidity matters is between the cable stay and the fulcrum of whatever they're pulling. I suppose it's possible that the stay on the axle is rusted.. you'll find that out when you replace the cables.

Well said. 30 years? Remind me not to park on any slope.. yikes.

 

[cobrajeff96]

It's not just that one, either. Just behind it, there is this little piece of spring metal that keeps the cables from drooping onto the driveshaft. It's literally held onto tunnel sheet metal by a single rivet. I had someone tack weld it back on a few years ago after the rivet failed.

I don't have to worry about cable tension anymore as electronic parking brake wires are the only thing routed there anymore. But yeah, Ford's original design back then was just good enough to get you out the showroom and have a few years of trouble free driving.