So, I have all three- front, left rear, and right rear. All vendors that carry the Raybestos line say made for a 1993 W250. with the cables in hand, I see that the end that houses the spring and mounts onto the E-Brake bracket inside the drums is of a different type than OEM. With the last few night searching the net and this site on past posts, the closest description I got to possibly describing how one gets it to mount onto our brackets was " I somehow got them to go on". I even googled a how to adapt these cables onto our brackets and all I got were lists of vendors carrying these cables. So, w/o having gone back into my drums to actually stew on the cable to bracket attachment(was going to do it today, but had to stay out of town to work, so I won't see my rig till next weekend- wanna be prepared) does anyone have a definite/detailed description of how the Raybestos cables mount onto our brackets in the drums? Someone on here must be using Raybestos brand cables

 

The raybestos (right rear)on my 92 clipped right in, no problems. In fact, the design for the retention of the cable at E brake arm was much better than stock.

 

I agree. I had issues with the other end, which mounts to the spreader and front cable not fitting correctly. No issue with the drum side

 

So the new cables have the two small channel like clips...correct? This is a way better set-up then the OEM style that was a thin tin barrel clip over the crimped end of the cable....not a very good, or particularly robust, or reliable set-up. I have had these come apart after only a few dozen applications.

Here is a pic of the dual clip set-up on my rear brakes.



It's a bit tight to get everything in and positioned properly, but once in place it is virtually impossible for it to come apart.

 

Wow! Thanks, guys! Feel in' better about attempting the swap now!

 

What were the issues, T Man? Easy enough to solve?

 

And the only other thing I don't like about the new cables is the fact that there is not boot of the end like the OEM cables. Mine get water in them eventually, then when it freezes over night they will not release in the morning.

 

I'll have to check for that. Are you talking on the ends where they unite with the channel that hooks onto the front cable, or inside the drums? I'm assuming you mean at the channel end, and you're specifically talking about the ends of the two rear cables, correct?

 

As I TEXTED you, they didn't fit properly, as the design was different. Didn't take any pix, but I had to put a bunch of washers on the cable end to remove the slack, and put a different locking clip on there. This was years ago, and I can't recall everything about it. Heck, I can't remember what I did last night for dinner, and you want details ???

TC is correct.

The ends of the two rear cables which meet the channel spreader bar attached to the threaded rod from the front (near the fuel tank). My cables from raybestos didn't have any boot, and they filled with water and froze overnight, forcing me to cut the cables off at the rear drums. Eventually I ordered one from the dealer, but the other side is NLA.

 

I never use my E-brake cables over night in the winter due to this problem.

 

How do you remember to Not use it??


Its so engrained in my behavior, I do it without even thinking. You know, like twisting the cap off a bottle of beer. I do it without even knowing I'm doing it...

Lol

 

I have six Dodge trucks on the road. With a bunch of old trucks with a quarter million miles on most of them, not everything works all the time.
I ALWAYS have a "to fix list" to keep me busy.
I park my summer rigs with a list on the seat to fix over the winter.
I start the summer with almost everything working on all for them, but don't usually have the time to fix thing in the summer.

I pause and think before I use the E-brake all the time.
I ask myself, is this the rig with the one sticky E-brake cable that likes to leave one side half on?. Or, is it going to be really cold tonight and I just drove home on wet roads?
It took a while to learn not to just jamb it on out of habit, but messing around with frozen brake cables in the -30F* mornings, seems to make an impression.
It also helps that my driveway is pretty flat so I don't use my E-brake in my driveway much.
I also carry a small wooden wheel chock under the seat of my trucks as a cold weather "E-brake"

 

These tend to work out just nicely..

Wheel Chocks - Rubber, 9 3/4 x 8 x 6" H-517 - Uline

 

I've been under the truck in -20*C weather with a bottle of hot water, running it over the cable to try and thaw them enough so I can manually push the cables in to release them.

But yeah the habit of just slamming the E-brake on every time you park is a tough one to break.

 

I've used a 4"-5" piece of heat shrink tubing that just fits over the outer cable and secure it with a zip tie. On the cable I use permatex and another zip tie. The heat shrink is flexible enough to scrunch up when the ebrake is released. Install when the ebrake is set.