I stewed on yours and Thrashing Cows comments on those E-Brake cables awhile back when contemplating the purchase of the Raybestos ones...the ice breaker was I do not live in the harsh conditions that most of you easterners do, so I bought and installed them. They may still give me problems down the road, cause road grit is everywhere. But my plan was to get some latex tubing, the wrist rocket stuff, as my protective bellows. I would get a size bigger than the cables, just large enough in diameter to be able to shoot some silicone into the ends, zip tie them up at the ends. If left long enough, it would have the flex from arming and disarming the cable, and should be easy enough to replace every season as part of maintenance because a larger diameter would allow me to easily slip a new one on.
I wanted to do this to the new ones I installed a few months ago, just didn't have the time.
Maybe this'll spur other ideas that may be superior the latex idea. Let me know what you come up with, Tman

 

Today, it turned out that the drivers side is not the culprit after all. It was the passenger side.

So, after much fumbling, I got it to release, and then it stuck again. Got it apart.

Well it's been about a year and a half (if that) and I found that the new cable to the passenger side (raybestos) had frozen. The jet heater fixed that temporarily, but I also had another issue. The parts I replaced last year are rusting away. Geesh! Makes me want to dump this truck and go buy something new (obviously, I'm not doing this) so that at least then I could buy new OEM parts that won't disintegrate in a year.

After disassembling everything including the ebrake pivot (which I did last year), I'm doing it all over again. New spring kit, and cleaned out the dust in the drum (which is what I think was causing the issue of it getting stuck.. The dust was so much it made it very difficult to remove the drum. Oh well.

The new hardware set had almost no protective coating on them (go figure, huh?), so instead of going crazy painting everything, I just sprayed a light coat of white lithium on it.. I figure since this is winter, it will stay in place for at least long enough for the brake dust to stick to it, and create a coating. Hopefully I won't be doing this again anytime soon. If it melts, and ruins the shoes.... don't really care at this point.

So, The other side can wait till later.

BTW. The cable was freed up, so I did my funnel idea. It worked quite well. Put the cable through a funnel, tape up the end, fill with oil. Moving the cable back and forth drew the oil down into the cable assembly. I filled the open end at the spreader bar / front cable with Never seize for now E brake works amazing now.

BY far the easiest and most precise way of adjusting your brakes is with the axle out, tire off. I have the passenger side down to just before it touches. The I backed it off just enough so no drag at all... So far, no leaks.

 

I lube up the moving parts, like the e-brake lever with sil-glyde. (Napa's silicone grease, smooth from way below zero to really hot). If parts are obviously bare steel, I spray them with a coat of clear lacquer. Seals them up pretty well, and dries in minutes.

 

Simple fact. nothing is as good as they used to make it.

 

Finally got my dodge connection steering brace yesterday, went to put it on and had to modify it with a grinder a little to clear the little dip for the crumple zone in the frame on my 92. Other than that it fits good.

 

Got back after 3 weeks & cranked the old girl...dead battery...0.1v...wouldn't jump start.
Farm & Fleet dealer stopped by and dropped off a replacement - the same Group 31 Odyssey 1150 CCA (2150 CA) battery.
Fired her up & proceeded to do dead short tests...halfway through the missus asked me why there's a "lit flashlight" in the glovebox...LOL.
Just for kicks, hooked up a buddy's SnapOn starting/charging diagnostic scanner:
Static voltage after drawing out the surface charge: 12.9v
Starter draw: 11.49v
Actual CCA: a healthy 1289 amps on the 1150 CCA rated unit
Charge voltage at cold idle: 14.5v
Alternator amps at idle: 122 amps
Alternator amps at 1900 rpm: 198 amps
Max alternator output under load: 237 amps

Glovebox lamp aside, good to know that the battery/alternator/Mopar VR are doing their job well.
Voltmeter barely flickers when the grids cycle.

 

Shhhhh__ it happens. When I come across a dead battery like that, I hook up the jumpers to something that's running and let it charge the battery for 15 minutes or so before I try to crank it. I spend the time finding the interior or brake lamps that are on and causing the trouble.

Unless you need help carrying them, jumper cables likely will have too much voltage drop to crank a CTD to firing speed with a dead battery.

 

Thats what I initially did...I have big old 4/0 ga jumper cables...hooked them up for close to 30 minutes off the missus' Jeep running at 2500 rpm...starter barely turned...and battery voltage was barely over 5v...of course, I ended up replacing the Jeep alternator the next day (was on its way out anyway...)

 

I just replaced my battery 2 weeks ago. Put in a The same brand back in it. A Napa battery. Looked at the date on the old one it was 14 years old. Check with meter to make sure was charging ok and took a test light on battery to make sure there was nothing draning battery. All checked out ok. So far no problem and been getting down in the single digits here at night.

 

Finally did something to my truck. Got that clear view Beckson deck plate from Amazon and mounted it. That thing is awesome. Already had a 3" hole with a cover plate for when I cleaned out the expansion coil box years ago, so a hole saw wouldn't work for where I needed it to go. Busted out my 90degree tin snips and man that black box is brittle! Each closure of the snip would snap off a chunk outside of my traced line. Luckily the outer trim of the plate covered the ragged edges up. Still came out as a clean install, and surprisingly a tight fit. Good mod.

 

now lets get some details on this big-**** alternator you're running and if it can be internally regulated!?!?

 

That is a slick idea....and you can do it while the cable is still on the truck!

Looks good. Never heard of anyone having to clear the dimple in the frame before, Good info. And thanks for the pics!

14 years.... Well you got your moneys worth out of that one!

 

Custom windings & internals by a local heavy truck electrical shop.
Max he would go for the case size/cooling, and the price was right.
Factory hookup & factory pulley - plug & play for either external VR or the ECU internal regulator.
If you like I will send you one when you are ready.
Get the first born ready to return ship.

 

Welcome for the pics. From everything I had read on them, it should have been fine. But I think that side might be tweaked just a little. Because I noticed the front spring hanger was bolted in place rather than the rivots, like the other side.

Finally after weeks of hibernation, the old goat decided it was ready for me to relinquish the modern day luxury of my buddy's 2012, and go back to driving it. After all I did it's like a whole different truck. Now On to making performance mods.....

 

Have you tried spraying the exposed brake hardware using cold galvanizing paint, it is rich in zinc, I use it when I weld on galvanized fence post, the zinc helps lubricate moving parts.

Need to build some custom stainless steel brake cables.