Where to get parking brake cables crimped in Denver??

[investinwaffles]

Hi folks, I need some "fabrication" assistance and I am not sure really where to look.

I swapped an 8.8 into my XJ and the parking brake cables have given me quite a bit of headache. I ordered a "custom" set from RT-OffRoad through Morris 4x4 and one of the cables is too long by about .5" and as a result the parking brake cable adjuster needs to be ridiculously tight, or only one side will engage.

I tried to fashion up a spacer out of some steel sleeve and zip-tie it onto the cable to effectively "shorten" its engagement point, but it causes the cable to not engage straight and causes the parking brake adjuster to turn and it won't engage properly.


Before I throw $70 of cables away and order the ECGS kit (for a whopping $100), I figure I would ask any of y'all if there was anywhere in Denver that could crimp a new ferrule end onto a parking brake cable - I called a few Garage Door shops and they seemed kind of pissed with me asking the question and said they wouldn't do it (its 1 crimp on a super tiny cable!!)
I would do it in the garage, but I can't have the crimp failing and my rig rolling down a hill (5 speed manual trans). I guess $100 is not that expensive for that peace of mind, but mostly I am just mad that I bought these cables months ago and they were improperly designed...


Here is a pic of what I am talking about, you can see the zip-tied spacer which helps to shorten the side that is too long, and it's even still a few millimeters short in this picture (you can see how the adjuster is "cocked" to the shorter side)
Help or advice would be appreciated - I just don't know jack about parking brake cables apparently :lmao:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/reddyuda/Jeep%20XJ/IMG_20170424_124139.jpg

[Java]

maybe contact RT and send it to them, have them do it? shipping shouldnt be too much on a cable.

[Hypoid]

Check with your local Ace Hardware. They sell cable, they sell ferules and thimbles, they should have crimping tools.

That aside, you should take a trip to the local junkyards and see how the ZJ parking brake turnbuckle is mounted in the transmission tunnel, with equal length cables running to the rear wheels. I have seen the turnbuckle on an XJ relocated to the tunnel, with ZJ cables to the wheels. In the next day or two, I'll have the ends from both cables side by side to see if the ZJ cables will work on the Ford brakes.

[dieseldoc]

no on the stuff from ace hardware. the forces aplied to the end of the cable are to high for the light wieght stuff.

call denver wire and rope.
they build cables and such for just ablout everything.
tell them the guys from Elco drilling refered you

[Hypoid]

call denver wire and rope.
they build cables and such for just ablout everything.Good to know!

[Swank1975]

I 2nd Denver Wire and Rope those guys are awesome for anything. Sheeves, belts, bearings, custom cut shafts, etc.

[dieseldoc]

they built me a realy nice 3 part 18" lift chain w/ 2 ton capacity for $400 mind you this is a cirtified lifting device!
we spend a ton of money with them.
we have 9 ddrill rigs, they each have 4 cables on them, 3 different sizes and lift capacitys.

[investinwaffles]

no on the stuff from ace hardware. the forces aplied to the end of the cable are to high for the light wieght stuff.

call denver wire and rope.
they build cables and such for just ablout everything.
tell them the guys from Elco drilling refered you

Sorry for the delayed response fellas, had a few things blow up on me at work and forgot I made this post (likely I was ignoring the fact that only one of my e-brakes was working :D )

Thanks so much for the reference!! I have been searching for like days on the internets with no luck.
I am going to pull the cable out right now and give em a call

I saw the lighter duty stuff at Ace and Home Depot but didn't really know if it would be OK for the parking brakes. If one crimp fails, the adjuster will allow the other cable to slack and my XJ could roll down a hill :D

I will report back with the results!


EDIT:
Also, RT Offroad is actually owned by Crown. I contacted them and they would only send me a replacement set and were uninterested that many folks have had the same issue as I did, nor were they willing to put me in touch with any of their engineers to verify the measurements. Not much help to be honest
Here is another thread - same issue;
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/xj-disc-conversion-e-brake-cable-help-168658/

[investinwaffles]

Well, no dice unfortunately. Brought the cable in to Denver Wire and Rope and they told me they don't carry anything that small.
They referred me to a hydraulic hose company that didn't really have any ferrule ends, nor did they have a die small enough to crimp it.

I found a trucking brake shop called Colorado Brake and supply but no one answered the phone when I just called (says they are open till 6)

Going to bring the cable there and see if they might be able to help

Would be nice to have parking brakes since I have a manual trans :erm:

[dieseldoc]

Colorado brake is good, we get stuff from them all the time.
If you don't get help let me know.
We have another vender we can try.....
Sorry Denver wire an rope couldn't get it done.

[investinwaffles]

Not your fault - not Denver Wire and Rope's either, they just don't handle cables this small. And I do appreciate the suggestion, got me at least a little closer to a solution

I tried to find a garage supply shop but all the ones I called are onsite service only, and were very reluctant on the phone (understandably).

What a strange unresolvable issue though, lol. Never thought it would be this difficult to get a cable crimped

[flashboiler]

I would grab a few of these from ace hardware:

https://www.mcmaster.com/#3914t4/=17ozb9x

Slit them lengthwise with a hacksaw and smash them on in front of the factory stop. They'd just be spacers that can't come off.

Edit: It looks like that piece is meant to rock to take up tolerance from the two cables. Do both cables tighten when the brake is on? Is there still angle left in the tilt piece? If so I'd just run it.

[redneck23ms]

Why can't you just take off all of the spacers that you have on there and tighten the adjuster nut down more?
Edit: nevermind I see it's just one cable that's too short. But with that said the way it is now should work. The factory romp should hold. The rest is just a spacer.

[investinwaffles]

Ok, so I am going to declare success on this one.

Finally had a garage door shop agree to let me come to their warehouse - they had the ferrule connectors in bulk but the guy with the hydraulic crimper was onsite somewhere.
They gave me the ends for free (very nice of them), and I went to Home Depot - walked in with my cable and the ends and just "borrowed" one of their swaging crimpers (the bolt cutter style) to crimp the end on. I had enough cable to crimp both ends on.

Now I just need to pull the axle shafts to get the passenger side parking brake hardware installed because I tried and failed for 3 hours to get the passenger side e-brake shoes on with the axle still installed. The Ford 8.8 is really difficult because there are 2 springs on the top-side that are really highly tensioned. I stupidly removed the hardware (which I installed before I installed the 8.8 while it was on the bench) and couldn't get it back on.

Thanks for the advice guys! I really do appreciate it - this was for some reason really difficult to accomplish in the Denver Metro area - probably just wasn't looking in the right places I guess

Colorado Brake and Supply was unable to assist, they don't make brake cables apparently. Went to a snow-plow shop - same deal. Finally went to 2 different aviation supply/repair centers and they had aviation control cable ends, but didn't have the ferrules. Oh well, I pulled on the cable ends really hard and they seem pretty secure. I used some silver solder and flowed it into the cable on both ends of the ferrule for a bit extra hold - hopefully it doesn't break on me but I am going to be pretty suspicious until I am damn sure it's not going to fall out on me.

EDIT:
The spacers I "fabricated" did not work - the cable wanted to angle outwards and caused the equalizer bracket to tweak to one side and I either had to have the drivers side over tensioned, or the pass. side wouldn't engage at all. I think it was because the inner diameter of the spacer was too large
Right now I have one engaging pretty hard but I usually do a "bog" test since I have a manual trans, and the parking brake should be able to kill the motor if I try to let the clutch out with the parking brake engaged. Right now, I can still move the Jeep but it will hold on even a fairly steep incline but will roll at anything over a 4% incline

[Hypoid]

I think you will be OK.

[xaza]

I went through some troubles with my parking brakes on my Jeep. I have an automatic but had my t-case pop into neutral and my truck began rolling backwards down first obstacle at Spring Creek while I was not in it and my daughter was in the back seat. Since then I always find a rock to put behind one or two tires just for ease of mind when I get out. (also fixed parking brake) When you are parked you will have the engine compression to help hold it in place as long as long you shut engine off. Have you measured how long of a cable you have? When I did my disk conversion I had to replace mine and I think I used the G2 ones from 4 wheel parts. They should be able to open a box and measure to find you the right size.