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Does anyone know if we need to use ONLY the factory cables (due to overall length, casing length, etc.) in order for the whole thing to work correctly??
In other words, IF any of the aftermarket replacement (Wagner's in particular) cables are even a little bit different in length, will the whole system just not work at all (given how little actual adjustment there is at the shoe adjuster)???
I am asking because I CANNOT get this crap to work properly (and this F'ING state requires it for their safety inspection), and I used the Wagner rear cables, since the GM/Delco ones are LONG GONE, and these were the ONLY ones left (besides the even more crap Dorman).
I'm away from the car and its been a while since I've been under there, but I recall that there is a way to take up or balance extra length at the attaching point to the single center cable:
If not, you can always take the new cable to a motorcycle shop or maybe even a bike shop. They should be able to shorten it and compress a new ferrule on the end of the cable to get it to the right length.
... Depending on what is wrong with your current cables, ^ those guys may even be able to rebuild what you currently have.
But as far as taking up the extra slack of too long rear cables, the ONLY way that is possible (without shortening the cables as you've suggested), is to install some kind of spacer before the 't-bar' to which the rear cables attach.
But, IF this is going to be considered a 'life and death' type of safety requirement by ANY state's inspection system (like it is here in f'ing Pennsyltuckey), GM should be MANDATED to make the parts available, especially if ONLY their length cables will function properly.
for the #8 cable going to each rear wheel the length should not matter, as long as it reaches and the connectors on the end hold in the bracket.
the #7 cable going to the ebrake handle inside, there is a ratchet mechanism so you crank on that to take up the #7 cable slack. that pulls on the t-bar going to the two #8 cables and the t-bar balances the force to each wheel provide each parking brake shoe engages at about the same time, when they don't then the t-bar handle goes to the side of the ebrake shoe engaging first.
i put a s60 rear in mine and have 1st hand experience with the adjuster at backing plate,
you need to have those pushing out quite a bit so the shoe is touching pretty good on the inside of the rear rotor for the ebrake to work "well". i found it makes it a bitch to then remove the rear rotors, so mine i have the adjusters out just enough so my ebrake just barely catches.
they are available, in GM's eyes it's called a new 2015 camaro
ha!
Or a 2015 Buick Regal... Ever since GM killed Pontiac, they have had me on the Buick marketing list. Bastards! I still don't understand that logic. I guess after buying the car almost 16 years ago, its time for me to have more doors, less power, and hemorrhoid cream...
for the #8 cable going to each rear wheel the length should not matter, as long as it reaches and the connectors on the end hold in the bracket.
In theory, I am sure you are correct, but I could NOT get the Wagner rear cables to work, AT ALL, even with brand new shoes, and the adjuster almost dragging on the inside drum surface of the rotor.
They seemed to have both; too 'heavy' a spring, and too long a spring (compared to the factory ones) at the shoe lever arm attachment. (It curves so radically in order to fit onto the lever, that it seems to bind?)
I am trying to find some used (but decent condition) factory rear cables.
Hawks Third Gen (yes, I know how everyone on here HATES them) have them for $45.00 for both + shipping and handling.
Is that a rip off for two supposedly rust/corrosion free (from "southern cars") cables??
A picture would be interesting, but I suspect - probably not worth the effort to get everything back on to take one!
Even the spring on the OEM cables is a pain. I found the were a lot easier to get on with the lever off the assembly. But, of course, it's a PITA to get to that point.
$45 sounds like a good price if the replacements are in good condition.
Crap I just threw a full set in the bushes.......weight reduction
I'm moving to YOUR state, ENOUGH with this draconian (and conflict of interest/complicit with the repair shop organizations) 'safety' inspection BULLSHIT in this F'ING state!!!!
don't move to CT. we also have plenty of dmv crap along with the law you can't load more than 10 rounds.
as a sanity check have both rear wheels off and observe the parking brake cable operation.
with ebrake down and off, the springs on the cables at the wheels should be pushing the lever to the parking brake shoe so it's not engaged... all the way to one side.
when you pull up on the ebrake handle to engage, the cables should pull that lever coming out the brake backing plate to engage the parking shoes. make sure that fundamental function is happening and the levers are moving a decent amount. check your t-bar and make sure it's mostly even. if all that's working then it's a matter of the adjuster at the backing plate and getting the shoes out far enough, when you pull up on the ebrake handle that movement of at most 1 foot distance translates to only maybe 0.100 of an inch moving the parking brake shoe so you have to have the shoe less than 0.050" of an inch from touching the inside of the rotor. the 0.100" i pulled out by butt as an example, i don't know specifically what that value is but that's how it works.
if your shoes are basically touching the inside of the rotor when ebrake not engaged, then look for bending in the brackets somewhere where that 0.100" of an inch is happening instead of at the lever at the brake shoe.
and now that i think about it is some of that ebrake cable force being held by the backing tin? i think remember there being a clip on the tin that holds the other side of the shoe, the side opposite of the adjuster. everything may be working but your backing tin might be flexing and not holding still, so you could be bending the backing tin with the ebrake instead of pushing the shoe against the rotor.
don't move to CT. we also have plenty of dmv crap along with the law you can't load more than 10 rounds.
as a sanity check have both rear wheels off and observe the parking brake cable operation.
with ebrake down and off, the springs on the cables at the wheels should be pushing the lever to the parking brake shoe so it's not engaged... all the way to one side.
when you pull up on the ebrake handle to engage, the cables should pull that lever coming out the brake backing plate to engage the parking shoes. make sure that fundamental function is happening and the levers are moving a decent amount. check your t-bar and make sure it's mostly even. if all that's working then it's a matter of the adjuster at the backing plate and getting the shoes out far enough, when you pull up on the ebrake handle that movement of at most 1 foot distance translates to only maybe 0.100 of an inch moving the parking brake shoe so you have to have the shoe less than 0.050" of an inch from touching the inside of the rotor. the 0.100" i pulled out by butt as an example, i don't know specifically what that value is but that's how it works.
if your shoes are basically touching the inside of the rotor when ebrake not engaged, then look for bending in the brackets somewhere where that 0.100" of an inch is happening instead of at the lever at the brake shoe.
THANKS for the info/help.
But I FINALLY got two used in good condition cables on(THANK YOU Johnny 59 on here! ), and at least got the thing to be able to hold the car with the handle pulled ALL of the way up to almost vertical, and satisfy the profiteering inspection *****.
I will adjust the lever thumb wheels even more yet over the weekend.
But then they failed me on the side marker bulbs being out, and needing new pigtails/sockets, which I replaced. and got them working, but then they would not re-inspect me today, making me drive around until Tuesday with an expired sticker in this Gestapo state (with it's $25.00 to $100.00 inspection violation tickets ), and are going to charge me ANOTHER $50.00 to look at two side marker lights, and put a safety inspection sticker on the car.
The inspection in this state is a SHAM, and a privatized CRIME, and I would GLADLY give up the ability to have 30-100 round mags for having either a more lax or NO inspection at all!!!
Last edited by dailydriver; 09-04-2015 at 07:33 PM.
Let me cry in my beer a little bit. Hopefully you'll feel better.
First off - paying for the rechecks is BS. When I lived in Virginia, we had no such gouge.
In the long run, you make up the inspection fees in lower insurance. My insurance doubled when I moved from VA to IL. In VA (inspection state) - I had no accidents. In IL (gangsta state) - I get hit like the highways are a game of bumper cars. Only half of the cars on the road have brakes that even remotely work. (We also have no property tax on cars - so people hold on to the old ones much longer here.)
I'll say it - I wish I was in your boat and had the inspections. Even if the inspection fee/insurance thing was a wash, just having fewer accidents to deal with would be a lot better.
Let me cry in my beer a little bit. Hopefully you'll feel better.
First off - paying for the rechecks is BS. When I lived in Virginia, we had no such gouge.
In the long run, you make up the inspection fees in lower insurance. My insurance doubled when I moved from VA to IL. In VA (inspection state) - I had no accidents. In IL (gangsta state) - I get hit like the highways are a game of bumper cars. Only half of the cars on the road have brakes that even remotely work. (We also have no property tax on cars - so people hold on to the old ones much longer here.)
I'll say it - I wish I was in your boat and had the inspections. Even if the inspection fee/insurance thing was a wash, just having fewer accidents to deal with would be a lot better.
I hear ya, and it IS a 'wash', with the slightly lower insurance rates than Joyzee (which has emissions ONLY every two years at a FREE state controlled, but privately run facility which ONLY does this and NO repairs to look for and profit from) due to this crap happening EVERY SINGLE YEAR.
And now I have to already start worrying about what minutiae **** they will dig to find NEXT YEAR.
Yes, overall it IS safer to have this draconian, German TUV-like, inspection system/rules, BUT, they nitpick like crazy, look for every little thing hoping to make a killing on you, counting on you just saying **** it, fix it now and give me a sticker already.
(Example; they wanted to charge me $100.00 labor, and $15.00 in parts to change the two side marker sockets/pigtails, something that took me all of 10 minutes to do, taking my time! )
IF the state is going to MANDATE that you MUST go to a private, for profit, repair shop facility, then they should have some consumer protection laws in place, like giving the customer AT LEAST a week, if not a month, to fix the inspection fail problem themselves, with NO re-inpection charge ever ALLOWED whatsoever.
Also, that the customer is allowed to both WATCH the inspection (to prevent sabotages for work needed/profit), AND to be able to drive along in the passenger seat with the tester on the 'road test' portion of the inspection to prevent the inked yahoo/biker, or worse yet, hateful towards domestics ricer invariably doing the test from grenading our crystal 10 bolts, or stock T56es.
Is that too much to ask from the right wing 'privatizers' who enacted this BS legislation (again, probably with much influence in the form of payola from the repair shop organizations/group PACS)???
Last edited by dailydriver; 09-05-2015 at 08:46 PM.
I think the charge for the return visit makes a lot of difference. In VA, they would always nitpick to get you to fall for the $20 light bulb change, but the fact that you could back put of the bay, do it yourself, and then get rechecked for free kept things reasonable.
They should just include the cost for all this stuff in with registration so the operators get fixed fees and are incented to be efficient.
Last inspection, I pulled up in the camaro, and the mechanics in the garage all came out to see what the commotion was about (turn downs). The lady takes my paperwork, goes inside to write my sticker up, and tells me I can stay outside and shoot the breeze with the guys if I want. THAT'S IT. She came out and slapped my sticker on and I made a kings exit!
I'll say it - I wish I was in your boat and had the inspections. Even if the inspection fee/insurance thing was a wash, just having fewer accidents to deal with would be a lot better.
The other states can keep their garbage "safety" inspections, I'm happy to not have them here. It's not really about safety when it's a local shop that stands to gain by charging for the repair. At least our emissions inspections are done by the state, and they offer no repair on site, so there is no financial incentive for them to fail us, plus no pressure to buy overpriced repairs since they don't offer any. I agree that such a program is a scam, if the state is worried about safety then the inspections would need to be conducted by the state with no on-site repair offered. It seems that local lobbyists for the repair industry in those states must have some pull with their respective lawmakers.
Also glad we don't face any of those "use" or annual vehicle property taxes. We already pay gas tax and flat-rate license plate renewals, that's the only tax there ever should be after the initial sales tax.
Overall, I can't complain about IL at all when it comes to this stuff. I never felt my insurance rates were excessively high, when I still had the '02 Z28 as a daily driver about two years ago I only paid $625/year for full coverage - and that's even with living less than a mile from Chicago. I know the young (and especially unmarried) guys pay a ton, but it's been many years since I had to worry about any of that.
Emissions tests are great here too; only conducted in about 10 counties, '95 and earlier are totally exempt, '96+ are scan only, and you can get any car exempted with show car (with proper insurance)/race car (with photographic evidence) status (not that you really need to these days since it's so easy to manipulate the tune for a pass with OBDII.) License plate renewals are expensive (~$100), but for the antique vehicles it's only $30 every 5 years.
Wow, talk about off-topic. I think I'll issue myself an infraction.
I agree that such a program is a scam, if the state is worried about safety then the inspections would need to be conducted by the state with no on-site repair offered. It seems that local lobbyists for the repair industry in those states must have some pull with their respective lawmakers.
^^^EXACTLY!!!
Campaign contributions/payouts speak MUCH louder than words!!
EVERY year we have to worry what they will go out of their way to find, and the state even leaves some of the judgement/interpretation of the rules "at the shop's discretion". WTF?!
In any case, I went back today, and they did not charge me again, probably due to me informing them just HOW MUCH damage can be done to them with 'word of mouth' dissing, and online berating, and the fact that I found (and informed them about) that EVERY other shop in the area gives their customers at least a week, if not A MONTH to be re-inspected with NO ADDITIONAL CHARGES, OR a full re-inspection required.
Some even said that they will honor this shop's low inspection fee coupons as well.
This despite them probably not worrying too much about losing ME personally as a customer because they will never make much on me due to the ability to fix most everything myself.
Last edited by dailydriver; 09-08-2015 at 02:48 PM.
08-26-2015, 12:39 PM
parking brake questions 
), and are going to charge me ANOTHER $50.00 to look at two side marker lights, and put a safety inspection sticker on the car. 
She came out and slapped my sticker on and I made a kings exit! 
