Boneman

Replaced them yesterday. In actuality the biggest issue was getting the car up high enough to get to the driveshaft tunnel where they affix unto the short cable attached to the E-brake handle.

Was staring at that finally... trying to figure out how to compress the spring-clip type anchors to slide the forward ends of the cables out of the housing... and realized... there's no need to preserve their integrity... so I jammed a screwdriver in the end of them, cracked them apart and out they popped.

A fairly easy job and now I actually have a parking brake. Last year for inspection, shortly after buying the car, the thing functioned just enough to pass.... of course, I made the mistake of using it in the winter and they of course froze on me... hence after reading about the proclivities of the early S-197 E-brakes... I stopped using it.

Which of course... ensured it's freezing permanently.

No worries now... it's a done deal. If you're having problems... don't fuss around trying to free up your existing cables. Get the new ones... as they've been "updated" and the old ones are just not worth fighting with.

2005Redfire6

Mine froze for the first time to my knowledge last week but my brake is already weak as it is so it didn't hold tight at all, they loosened up after a few hours and I know now not to use it if its near freezing or below...

Boneman

I was a bit confused for a second... but then spied your location. I hear it's been cold down there of late and this would be proof. My cables were utterly frozen regardless of temperature. The boots at the wheel ends were utterly deteriorated and over time... well, they just seized up altogether... more than likely due to getting "wet" over and over... and who knows what kind of mess is in the old cables.

How I got mine up far enough in the driveway was to back her up onto my ramps (both rear wheels) then jack up and support the front driver side as far as I could get it. Remove the old cables from the front, attach the new ones and follow the routing back. Once you have both new and old passing through the oval slot in the trailing arms then get the car down off the jack / ramps.... and jack up and remove the rear wheels one at a time to remove the old and attach the new.

When the time comes, of course!

Meanwhile... what ever happened to global warming... I've had an HARD freeze up here for going on three weeks dammit.

red07Pony

This is such a relevant thread!! I just unhooked my cables from the calipers this past week because they froze up and wouldn't let go. How much did they run you? Did you get them from a dealership? I found them here

Boneman

Exactly where I procured mine. Kinda funny actually.... I even received a call from them after (their words) Ford "threw me under the bus".... as the original part numbers habe been updated... Ford cancelled the order. So they had to re-order the "updated" parts.

You would think that would happen automatically. Apparantly.... not so much. I daresay that anyone else ordering them will not have the minor "delay" that I experienced. The folks at Silver State were on the up and up and took care of it as expeditiously as possibe.

They ran $100 for the pair. The updated parts hopefully addressed the issue of the boots on the end deteriorating in a year. We shall see. All in all though, the new cables function amazingly well.

jimkaray

I had one side freezing up a couple of years ago and replaced them both. I few thoughts for anyone who suspects they have this issue.
First watch for excessive brake dust on the wheel. Once the cable starts hanging up there is a very good chance it isn't releasing the brake 100%. That means you're wearing out the pads early, and your gas mileage will suffer from the constant drag.
You may also find the car pulling slightly to one side or the other when you brake.
One easy test is to jack up the rear and check to see if the tire spins freely.

Boneman

I'll be darned... a neighbor. I'm up in the Dingmans Ferry area myself. Lookin' at yer mod list, Im' surprised you even noticed a wee bit of brake drag... :-) but the dust, I can understand.

All good things to watch for actually. Don't know how long I'll have this car... plan is... for a long time, so it will be interesting to see how the new cables hold up over time. Hopefully FOMOCO got them right with the "updating".

jimkaray

The brake dust is the early warning sign. Since I took my time before finally getting around to doing the job it got to were it was sticking real bad. It took a 1/2 mile or so before it would release from fully applied. If your driving in the winter and/or leaving it outside the moisture and salt is going to cause problems sooner or later. I'm lovin that I actually have a winter beater again and Ive got the car in the garage! Even put my old 16" with the snows up on Craigs list if you know anyone who's interested.

brunobluto

Well have'nt you heard, global warming is behind everything these days. Hot summers, global warming. Brutal cold winters, global warming. Hurricanes during the summer, global warming. The fact that we have'nt had a hurricane hit here in texas for 2 years now, well thats global warming too. And im pretty sure global warming is behind the hangover i suffered from this morning.