under frame e-brake

[whafam]

I know this isn't the popular thing, but I ended up putting my e-brake cables under the 4" frame member and wanted to post what I did, as it actually turned out to work really well. I had intended to do the modification EdwardB posted, but as many likely know, Lokar no longer makes the clevis he used. I looked on the forums and spent a great deal of time on McMaster Carr and many online automotive sites to see how I could do it and to get ideas. I was also running into the problem of trying to figure out how to shorten the cables and to keeping the ends at a good angle as they approached the clevis and the mount for the gear/handle, etc. The welded-on tab for the seat belt attachment has the angled bottom whose edge bothered me when I figured out this area was the best route for the cables to go under the frame, given the cables' length and trajectory to their attachment at the clevis.
136077
I ended up using things I had available from past projects (much better than spending more $), with the exception of the one cheap "hook" I used on the bottom of the aforementioned "tab." I had a trim piece I cut and fit over the edge of that seat belt tab bottom and wrapped the brake cable lines in a rubber vacuum hose I had laying around. I then attached the hook to the bottom of the "tab" bottom and then applied a little grease to the rubbing surfaces just to cut down a bit on any friction and everything seemed to line up well and function well, without having to cut any cables or do much adjusting. I was relieved! FWIW. BTW for some reason some of my pics get posted upside down...

[Busamike]

I know this isn't the popular thing, but I ended up putting my e-brake cables under the 4" frame member and wanted to post what I did, as it actually turned out to work really well. I had intended to do the modification EdwardB posted, but as many likely know, Lokar no longer makes the clevis he used. I looked on the forums and spent a great deal of time on McMaster Carr and many online automotive sites to see how I could do it and to get ideas. I was also running into the problem of trying to figure out how to shorten the cables and to keeping the ends at a good angle as they approached the clevis and the mount for the gear/handle, etc. The welded-on tab for the seat belt attachment has the angled bottom whose edge bothered me when I figured out this area was the best route for the cables to go under the frame, given the cables' length and trajectory to their attachment at the clevis.
136077
I ended up using things I had available from past projects (much better than spending more $), with the exception of the one cheap "hook" I used on the bottom of the aforementioned "tab." I had a trim piece I cut and fit over the edge of that seat belt tab bottom and wrapped the brake cable lines in a rubber vacuum hose I had laying around. I then attached the hook to the bottom of the "tab" bottom and then applied a little grease to the rubbing surfaces just to cut down a bit on any friction and everything seemed to line up well and function well, without having to cut any cables or do much adjusting. I was relieved! FWIW. BTW for some reason some of my pics get posted upside down...

Thanks for that. I just got into my car, or under it looking around and saw exactly what you have here. I thought that odd. I shall fix it your way. Thank you.

[CFranks]

Great idea, I have the same thing happening and I exasperated it a bit by mounting a guide to move the cables a bit further away from my driveshaft loop so it's even tighter on that seatbelt triangle piece and chafing.

[ggunter]

When I look at how well these cars are designed ( and I mean that) this e brake set up is something that needs a redesign. We all know the powder coating on the cross member will quickly wear off and the fact that the cables just rub on that cross member just doesn't sit well, because they will rub through in short order as well. It works but there is too much drag from sharp cable bends and the springs in the calipers are barely strong enough to release the cables. I see the upper bkt. for cables but I don't know what cables would go there but it looks like a much better vantage point to start with. Does anyone know why the upper cable stays are there and what goes in them. Are these for IRS rear ends?

[ggunter]

One thing that I might try to reduce the friction on the crossmember and the cables is Teflon sheeting. Freight trailers use a Teflon scuff liner to keep fork lifts from digging into the sides of the trailers when loading freight. It is very tough 1/4" thick and bendable and could be cut and bent around that crossmember and riveted on with large head 3/16 rivets. It is available at trailer supply and parts stores. I am going to pick some up this week and will post what it looks like all done.

[rich grsc]

There is absolutely no reason to run the cables under the frame, thats a poor choice. The upper cable attach points can be made to work with a little thought and work, I used it on my old car. There are bunch of other ways of making the standard location work better. This is how I did my current car, I consider it the best, thanks DV/DT. :D https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?183-Mk-III-Parking-Brake-Relocation-How-To

[JohnK]

I agree - there's no reason to be running parking brake cables under the frame. I also agree with ggunter that the e-brake setup on these cars is not the best-engineered thing I've ever seen. At a minimum, I'd toss the cables that come with the kit and use something like the Wilwood universal parking brake cable kit (P/N 330-9371 (https://www.wilwood.com/Hardware/HardwareProd?itemno=330-9371)). These cables have an inner cable and outer sheath that the cables slides inside of. That's a far more robust design, IMO, than a plastic-coated cable that's not in a sheath. They come 8' long and are designed to trim to fit, so you could easily route them over the frame and get a good routing, and not worry about the cable rubbing against the frame or other sharp edges and wearing out.

[Ian G]

I used DV/DT's set up years ago and it works great. I used a Fox donor mechanism. It has been faultless and actually keeps the car from moving. There is nothing under the frame rails of my car. I did not use the enclosure.

[rich grsc]

I used DV/DT's set up years ago and it works great. I used a Fox donor mechanism. It has been faultless and actually keeps the car from moving. There is nothing under the frame rails of my car. I did not use the enclosure.
I skipped the enclosure as well.

[whafam]

All good info. The great thing about these “kit cars” and what many people don’t understand (those who may think these cars are just simple projects where you follow a set of instructions) is that there are so many different ways to put things together and an infinite amount of money you can spend on them! It would be nice to see a better system for this particular issue, but it is cool to see what others come up with to solve it...that’s the power of the forum!

[CraigS]

I have never had a problem w/ the cables under the frame tube. I suppose they could be vulnerable but 15 years and never have been hit.