View Full Version : 11.65 IRS rear brake for 15 inches wheels E-brake cable to caliper problem
Hi All,
My Mk4 st-up is configured with the IRS suspension and for the 15 inches wheels. In that case you need the 11.65 inches rear brake set-up if you stick with FFR parts. the supplemental instructions are not clear when it come to the E-brakes
Looking for some help on how to connect the E-brake cable to the rear caliper. I hope the pictures that I have provided in attachment will be posted.
Thanks guys!
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Its been a while but I think I used a hex head bolt that didnt stand as tall. I do recall the parking brake being something that wasnt plug and play. If someone with a better memory doesnt chime in, I can look and see what I did.
Its been a while but I think I used a hex head bolt that didnt stand as tall. I do recall the parking brake being something that wasnt plug and play. If someone with a better memory doesnt chime in, I can look and see what I did.
Thanks,
It would be appreciated to see the routing coming out of the caliper.
John Ibele
08-31-2021, 07:40 AM
I remember this as something that required a bit of tinkering. First, you're going to want to head to Ace and grab a snap ring to hold the cable housing in place in the caliper:
https://live.staticflickr.com/4591/39433187882_f4fcf506df_b.jpg
(https://flic.kr/p/235zoVG)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/235zoVG) by John Ibele (https://www.flickr.com/photos/familycobra/), on Flickr
The snap ring doesn't show here, but it would slot in at the upper right, very end of the cable housing.
And, from what I recall, the casting was just a bit too thick, so you need to grind or file some of the caliper down until the snap ring can fit in the groove to hold the cable housing in place. This was a pain ... too tight for a 4" grinder, maybe a Dremel with the right attachment would do the trick, I think I brute-forced it with the caliper on the bench and some quality time with hand tools (rasp and file). If you have air tools (which I do now), a die grinder with the right attachment would probably make quick work of it.
After you get that done and the cable housing is held securely, you have the problem of cable routing, since things are pretty tight in there, and you don't want the cable to rest against the rotating 1/2 axle. Here's what I did:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51414201269_8d0d7e42ba_b.jpg
(https://flic.kr/p/2mkidN2)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/2mkidN2) by John Ibele (https://www.flickr.com/photos/familycobra/), on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51414202399_0166a34c7c_b.jpg
(https://flic.kr/p/2mkie8v)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/2mkie8v) by John Ibele (https://www.flickr.com/photos/familycobra/), on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51413448466_40d58c3e17_b.jpg
(https://flic.kr/p/2mken1E)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/2mken1E) by John Ibele (https://www.flickr.com/photos/familycobra/), on Flickr
The extra (yellow zinc) bolt through the LCA is from an after-market sway bar I installed ... but you can easily drill through in the same spot to install a similar bracket to hold the cable. Hopefully those images help. A little elbow grease required on this one, but you can end up with a well-routed cable that stays put.
Good luck and keep at it!
Cheers,
-- John
Thanks John and emac for your inputs.
I will work on this today...
So it's done, well at least the portion coming out the caliper which required a few tweaks.
My approach was to use countersunk bolts with of course, the same thread pattern and length which means that the provided brackets needed to be countersunk in order to benefit from the maximum clearance the bolts can provide...
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Steel is way harder than aluminum so if you have on hand cheap countersink bits like mine, well they will be good for the recycling after:).
I did not have "the one size bigger" bit that I might have needed, but it gave enough clearance after I enlarged the caliper parking brake seat holes. I did thin-up also, with a Dremel, about 0.100 of an inch the end cable seat on the caliper, like suggested. The purpose of that, was to have enough clearance to slide-in retaining clips in the grooves of the cable-ends to hold them firmly in place. (for the sharp eyes, note the the clips used are not the definitive ones. Same story for bracket stack washers used in lieu of the back-ordered spacers...)
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After that, the parking brake cables were then routed like instructed in the complementary instructions and clipped in their respective locations. Clamps need to be installed in order to secure both cables also.
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I will contact the customer support to suggest some modifications for the instructions, pictures and parts.
In hope that this will help somebody in the future.
Thanks again emac and John for your help!