Wilwood Universal e brake cables

[Yama-Bro]

Has anyone used these successfully on the roadster. If so, any pictures or details. I'm mostly concerned with the mounting of the bracket and the connection to the lever.

[Jeff's First FFR]

Yo Yamabro,
It's a piece of cake! The Wilwood cable works SO MUCH better than the FFR one. I highly reccomend it. My FFR cable kept binding even with helper springs on the caliper. I made a simple bracket out of angle iron and mounted it to the transmission A-frame.

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Works perfectly!

Jeff

[Yama-Bro]

Nice! I didn't think of mounting it to the a-frame, I was thinking of doing some sort of bracket to the frame. The a-frame looks a lot easier. I need to dig the a-frame out of the box and mount it up to the frame to see what I have to work with. Thanks for the input!

[lgordon]

I just trimmed the housing of the Wilwood parking brake cable to about the same length as the one on the FFR supplied cable. The fittings supplied with the Wilwood kit then mount its cable housing to the bracket FFR welded to the frame for its cable housing. From there I routed the cables forward to the two pulleys suggested in Edwardb's method for routing the cable over the cross tube. https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?18591-EdwardBs-Mk4-8674-20th-Anniversary-Build&p=225428&viewfull=1#post225428

It worked really well for me!

[Jeff's First FFR]

I tried Paul's pulley method six ways from Sunday. I couldn't get it to work on my MK4. One pulley, two pulleys, 4 pulleys...couldn't get a straight shot at the handbrake clevis. My method does run under the round tube but the cables are fully protected by the sheath.

[BrewCityCobra]

Interestingly enough I just purchased a set last week. Want to try to get them installed in the next week or so and I can take some pictures.

[Tbev]

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I used the Wilwood Universal Cable. I ran the cable through the bracket on the frame and did the pulley mod to go over the 4 inch tube and it works great. The last picture is a bracket I fabricated to go around the pulleys to prevent the cables from jumping off the pulleys. It will be attached using the same bolt as the pulley along with two rivets on the other side. I also riveted a piece of plastic on the pulley side of the bracket so that if there is any cable rub it will be cable to plastic and not cable to metal. I spent way more time than it should take to install a parking brake, but I am very happy with the results.

[Jeff's First FFR]

147999147999148000148001148002
I used the Wilwood Universal Cable. I ran the cable through the bracket on the frame and did the pulley mod to go over the 4 inch tube and it works great. The last picture is a bracket I fabricated to go around the pulleys to prevent the cables from jumping off the pulleys. It will be attached using the same bolt as the pulley along with two rivets on the other side. I also riveted a piece of plastic on the pulley side of the bracket so that if there is any cable rub it will be cable to plastic and not cable to metal. I spent way more time than it should take to install a parking brake, but I am very happy with the results.

Very nice! However, when I tried it the cable clamp rides over the carriage bolt on the handbrake mount and I was worried it could jam.

[Tbev]

Very nice! However, when I tried it the cable clamp rides over the carriage bolt on the handbrake mount and I was worried it could jam.

Thank you. I followed Paul's (Edwardb) advice on that and installed the carriage bolt pointing up so the nut is on top. If it rubs at all it is minimal and since its a carriage bolt the clevis just goes right over it. I also tried a modification to extend the handle that the clevis mounts to down 1.5 inches to give the clevis more clearance. This was recommended by Steve (ILBPFoot). It definitely did the trick and looked great but I could not get the cables right with this set up. They were either too tight and I was only able to get one or two clicks on the parking brake handle or they were too loose and the cables were sloppy when the brake wasn't engaged. I believe Steve used the FFR supplied cables in his set up and since I was using the Wilwood Universal's I figured this was the reason I couldn't get it to work. If anyone has the FFR cables and wants to give Steve's mod a try I have the fabricated extension brackets all made and painted. It will only cost you the shipping.

[lgordon]

My experience was very much like Tbev’s. Paul’s over the cross tube with two pulleys method with the new Wilwood cable set made a perfect solution for me.

I mounted the pulley axel a bit closer to the cross tube and have never had a problem with the cables jumping off the pulleys. That said, I really like Tbev’s bracket!

[AdamIsAdam]

Is this the kit you used?
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wil-330-9371?seid=srese1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwkZiFBhD9ARIsAGxFX8DH_9T1YGlKAt45M7nn ghOWL86BcfqqbmYuBmEDWkCjtUH9HAWaDMwaAsVLEALw_wcB

[JohnK]

Unless I'm missing something, it seems to me that, if using the Wilwood cables, the pulleys can be eliminated altogether. The real beauty of the Wilwood cable kit as compared to the FFR parking brake cables is that there's an inner cable that slides inside a housing that doesn't move. I'd just secure the outer cable housing with some padded clamps as needed to keep it secure.

[lgordon]

Yes, that is the Wilwood parking brake kit I used.

[AdamIsAdam]

I assume my setup is FFR. (Remember, I didn't build my car.) The parking brake lever is mounted on the tranny tunnel. There are pulleys underneath. It all seems to operate fine but provides minimal braking force. I've adjusted the cables to improve that but they either stretched quickly or something else because it only worked better for a few weeks. Maybe the Wilwood setup will give me a parking brake that actually works. hmm

[Tbev]

Unless I'm missing something, it seems to me that, if using the Wilwood cables, the pulleys can be eliminated altogether. The real beauty of the Wilwood cable kit as compared to the FFR parking brake cables is that there's an inner cable that slides inside a housing that doesn't move. I'd just secure the outer cable housing with some padded clamps as needed to keep it secure.

I wouldn't be comfortable running the Wilwood cable set up without pulleys. The pulleys keep the cables at the correct angle, keep the metal cable off of the frame, and away from the drive shaft when the brake is off and the cables are slack. I very well may be wrong as I'm no expert and admittedly spent way too much time on this part of my build.:D

[BrewCityCobra]

Unless I'm missing something, it seems to me that, if using the Wilwood cables, the pulleys can be eliminated altogether. The real beauty of the Wilwood cable kit as compared to the FFR parking brake cables is that there's an inner cable that slides inside a housing that doesn't move. I'd just secure the outer cable housing with some padded clamps as needed to keep it secure.

I think you'd find that you still need the pulleys. The pulleys are for orientation which is still and issue with flexible cables regardless of the presence of a sheath. That said I'm installing mine next week so there is a bit of guesswork there.

[lgordon]

Both the Factory Five and Wilwood parking brake cables come with a housing (sheath). That’s an essential part of how the parking brake system works. Also, if you want to run your parking brake cables over the frame tube you will definitely need pulleys.