brake cable crimps crimper Swaging Ferrules

[TexasAviator]

I had to cut my brake cables they were much too long. I had them given to me by a member here and i need to crimp swaging ferrules on them at the forward mustang equalizer. All my parts are non donor but in this instance they were much too long and didnt work together.

I need them to be like this. Is there a place you could recommend to buy a proper tool and swages for a proper fit using the cut down non donor kit cables?

[GFX2043mtu]

You need a cable swaging tool. These tools are around $100 for a decent one. Your best bet to save some money is to find a local aircraft mechanic as these are a common tool for them. I would imagine they would be willing to help.

[Fixit]

2nd an airframe mechanic, or another idea...
See if there's a local outfit/supplier for commercial chain & cable - a place that sells lifting, rigging, hoisting supplies. Back in the day doing "Pro-Audio" I used to fab flying frames for loudspeakers - using wire-rope, thimbles, and swedge fittings (NicoPress was the tradename).
I'd bet that if you brought in your cables all set up & measured you could have them "demo" a setting tool & ferrule for you (and a $10...)

[CraigS]

I cut mine, over lapped them about 4 inches, and used three cable clamps on each to splice them back together.
https://www.e-rigging.com/one-eighth-inch-Malleable-Wire-Rope-Clip?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3pjA1vud2gIVSp7ACh16swtdEAQ YBSABEgLBcfD_BwE
Although I didn't need to, you may want to cut off some of you excess cable.

[Railroad]

Lowe's Hdwe sells a swager for about $25 with single and double ferrules for sale. I used a single ferrule with some loctite under it. I am not on the road, nor using the brake cables yet, but it seems to be holding during testing. You can put 2 ferrules on the same cable or use the 2 cable ferrule with the cable looped back onto itself.

[TexasAviator]

Thank you all what thickness is the cables in the non donor cables from FFR? I cut them and removed a small part of the plastic for the swedge. They are installed so I don't want to pull them off the car. I'll go to Lowes today.

[Railroad]

I forgot to mention, I also removed the plastic coating. I used a bushing and sleeve retaining loctite on the cable. Red loctite would be better than nothing, IMO.

[Fixit]

1/8" would be a good bet.

Loctite or similar isn't necessary on a swaged cable stop or joiner. The soft material of the fitting literally melds into the twist of the wire rope - it ain't coming off.
(a properly done fitting is stronger than the parent cable - the cable will fail before the fitting)

Yes on removing any vinyl coating or sleeving from the wire rope!

[Jeff Kleiner]

Yep, done this on every car I've built using ferrules and swager from Lowes.

https://mobileimages.lowes.com/product/converted/020418/020418291173.jpg
https://mobileimages.lowes.com/product/converted/020418/020418291289.jpg
Put a piece of cut off cable in the second hole so that the ferrule will clamp down tightly.

Correct, cables are 1/8" after stripping the vinyl coating.

Jeff

[Big Blocker]

What Jeff posted is what I used on mine when I did the "Fiero" Mod. Lowes sells a "crimper" like Jeff shows for about $30 and the ferrules are a dime-a-dozen (sorta).
Did mine about four years ago and no issues to date . . .

Ditto on the scrape the nylon/vinyl jacket off before you crimp.

Doc

[dbo_texas]

Reviving this thread as I need to shorten my stock e-brake cables by quite a bit after moving the handle to the top of the trans tunnel. Does it matter what material the crimp sleeve is? I see a lot of the sleeves made of aluminum and copper, but the ones that come on the original e-brake cable look like they are steel. I'm nervous about these slipping off under load.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=199110&d=1715049955

[F500guy]

Not Sure if this would be help full, But I have made throttle cables with soldered ends. You could crimp it then solder the end.

1) Get a metal pipe cap, clean it out and fill with copious amounts of solder
2) Heat with a blow torch until melted
3) Heat the cable end and apply liberal amount of rosin
4) Dip it

[dbo_texas]

Not Sure if this would be help full, But I have made throttle cables with soldered ends. You could crimp it then solder the end.

1) Get a metal pipe cap, clean it out and fill with copious amounts of solder
2) Heat with a blow torch until melted
3) Heat the cable end and apply liberal amount of rosin
4) Dip it

Good suggestion and I thought about doing that also to add some bulk to the tip of the cable (after the crimp sleeve). Solder doesn't have a lot of shear strength so not sure how much it would help but I may do some pull tests on some of the spare cable that I trim.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Reviving this thread as I need to shorten my stock e-brake cables by quite a bit after moving the handle to the top of the trans tunnel. Does it matter what material the crimp sleeve is? I see a lot of the sleeves made of aluminum and copper, but the ones that come on the original e-brake cable look like they are steel. I'm nervous about these slipping off under load.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=199110&d=1715049955

I've done a whole bunch of them using aluminum and have never had one come loose.

Jeff

[dbo_texas]

I've done a whole bunch of them using aluminum and have never had one come loose.

Jeff

Sounds like you use the double version ferrule. I borrowed a crimper from a neighbor, and have both the double and single ferrules. I was planning to use the double, but not sure which position to use on the crimper. Seems like the 1/8 position is far to small to fit the double cable ferrule (seems just right for the single cable ferrule). Do you go up a size (3/16) when using the double ferrule?
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=199159&d=1715287974

[J R Jones]

Choosing sleeves to crimp on steel cable, one should acknowledge galvanic corrosion as a potential failure, especially in open environments.
Copper is used for sleeves in industrial applications particularly high risk fire extinguishing systems.

Note this chart of dissimilar metals and galvanic corrosion:

https://www.monarchmetal.com/blog/galvanic-corrosion-common-questions-answered/
To each his own.

BTW when sizing a crimp tool jaw to a double sleeve, the sleeve is crimped round end to round end, not the flatter sides.
jim

[dbo_texas]

Choosing sleeves to crimp on steel cable, one should acknowledge galvanic corrosion as a potential failure, especially in open environments.
Copper is used for sleeves in industrial applications particularly high risk fire extinguishing systems.

Note this chart of dissimilar metals and galvanic corrosion:

https://www.monarchmetal.com/blog/galvanic-corrosion-common-questions-answered/
To each his own.

BTW when sizing a crimp tool jaw to a double sleeve, the sleeve is crimped round end to round end, not the flatter sides.
jim

Thanks Jim - from what I've seen, most of the crimp sleeve providers instruct to use aluminum ferrule sleeves for galvanized cables, and copper sleeves for stainless cables. I think the stock FFR cables are the galvanized style. And yeah - I was also confused about the orientation until I watched several YouTube videos directly from the manufacturers such as nicopress sleeves, like this video which shows the proper orientation. My tool doesn't have a gauge included, and the 1/8 position on the tool looks like it would work great for a single cable stop sleeve but looks too small to do a double sleeve in the correct orientation per this video. I'm just going to try it out on some of the excess cable that I cut and see how it works out.

https://youtu.be/D6KVAKKbF3A?si=870ItmPENoGtz7p8&t=111

There are also several videos of DIY folks showing how to crimp them the WRONG way :)

[J R Jones]

dbo, do as you determine is best.
Galvanizing is a micro layer treatment over steel, the base cable is steel. As you have seen in galvanized fasteners, the coating deteriorates over time and with surface friction. Galvanized fasteners do corrode here in the WI rust belt. The crimping process puts the cable strands in high compression and I am concerned that the galvanized coating is damaged, exposing the steel.

I worked for Mercury Marine and we had a corrosion department / test facility; salt water corrosion is a huge challenge.
Stainless steel is considered a "noble' metal, more so than aluminum or copper, and by the former chart, it will sacrifice either crimp, aluminum more rapidly.
Footnote: if you replace your outboard or stern drive aluminum propeller with a stainless propeller, the aluminum bits will corrode more rapidly.
Sacrificial anodes are engineered to balance-out the aluminum and stainless mass proportionally. Anodes are an aluminum alloy.
jim