It worked, then 5 minutes later, it went to the floor. Before I start crawling around in this 100* heat, can anyone give me a hint on where to start looking and what to look for?

My driveway is like a down hill ski slope, so my e-brake is a necessity.

 

Why do I have to be the one that has a problem that no on knows anything about?

I took the kick panel off and crawled under the dash. The main cable is still connected and the pedal returns to the up position by itself. Something else have come loose, but I have no idea what. I sure hate crawling around under there in all this heat.

 

Only way to figure it out is to trace it from the pedal all the way back to the axle.

Should run along the drivers side frame rail all the way back.


phox

 

Thanks Phox,

The main cable is still on the assembly, but when the pedal is depressed, whatever is suppose to pull the cable tight is not working. It appears that something on the inside of the truck has slipped, come loose or broke. It looks like only three bolts hold the assembly in place, so getting it off should not be to big of a deal. It's what all that falls apart when it's removed and getting it back in that has me worried.

 

Crob,
It could be that the spring broke (it looks like a recoil spring on a lawn mower engine). That has happened to me.

The cable could have broken along the frame somewhere.

I think there is a little spring that causes a metal finger to lock in the teeth or maybe it releases it from the teeth. You will see what I mean.

Now I can get rid of that pesky " You haven't contributed in a while message"

 

Glad you chimed in and became part of the group again.

The lawn mower looking spring keeps pressure on the pedal and returns it to the top....it's OK. I can get my fingers around the cable, and it feels very tight. You may be on to something with the little spring thing. Since I don't know what it's suppose to look like, I don't know what to look for. Dang I hate to have to pull that thing out. Hmmmm, Tyler will be up Friday for our meet........"Hey Tyler, wanna sleep in my nice cool, comfy, new camper this weekend? Have I got a deal for you!"

 

Charley do you have disk on the back or drum brakes? It could be that the e brake deal inside the actual drum or the disk has bought the farm. If I recall there is a spring on the inside that pushes the brake pads tight against either the drums or the disk brake

 

I thought about that, but depressing the pedal does not move the cable inside the cab. I can't see it under there, but there has to be some kind of tooth wheel there that is not being picked up.

 

Charley the barke pedal assymbly is realy a kinda "dog-leg" lever, there is a pivot point that could break, but I've never seen one do it..
Trace teh cable from under teh rear drivers side of the cab back and see that it isnt hung up or broken. Some models have a pivot mounted to teh frame rail at teh front of the bed to give leverage, some dont.
The cable will then go to an adjuster where it splits off to two cables, one going to each axle.
It is not unusual for the adjusters to break or for the cables to get stuck in their sheaths. Either of those situations could result in what you are describing.
Inside the rear drum, teh cable has a return spring that holds it in place on the brake lever, but I cant imagine both sides going bad at the same time.
The only real way to check the cable travel is to locate the adjuster adn have soemone apply teh E-brake while you observe for movement, and if none there, pull the drums and check again there...
Hope this helps, its not as compllicated as it sounds really....
All the above is reading your post as sayign that the brake is not being activated when you step on teh cable... or that it is not releasing when you pull teh brake release handle..

 

Here's the picture of the pedal assembly if it helps any.

 

Chris, thanks for the insight. Why don't you come on down and fix it for me this weekend. Beer and food is on me. It looks like this will be my priority project for the weekend. I'll probably pull the rear wheels and start there.

Justin, thanks for the pic. I think that little spring at the center left of the pic may be the problem. Really won't know until it comes out.

 

You guys that called the rear cable win the prize.

The solder "knot" on the end of the cable in the passenger side rear had popped off. There was enough left for it to catch in the receiver lever, but I don't think it would have held. I was pretty worried about it and was hoping Mike, (advertiser lazarsmith.com) could come up with a fix. He took one look at it and said "No problem". This guy, and his truck with all the tools, etc, are amazing! He balanced a SS nut on the end of the cable and tig (i think) welded it to the cable. I used it several times last night and today and it's holding. I also have to thank bnold for his help getting that monster shoe assembly back on and aggiejustin for telling me how to get everything adjusted. A great bunch of guys, and now I can again park on my ski slope driveway.