Replacing the emergency brake cable on my 2000 Ram 2500 with drum brakes. I bought an OE cable from Dodge. It did not come with a spring on the drum end. There is a spring on the original cable but the ends of the spring are coiled small enough the bead on the cable will not allow the spring to come off the original cable and go on the new one. Is there a trick to swapping the spring to the new cable? Or could I possibly have the wrong cable? I t seems it has to come off it wont go through the hole in the backing plate either!

 

IMO you got the wrong cable. I replaced mine and went to three different sources till I got the right ones. There doesn't seem to be a standard rear brake cable.