Hand Brake Cable (Breakage)
Submitted: Sunday, Oct 26, 2003 at 06:22
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Noosa Fox
Last weekend I had the hand brake cable on our van snap, and I have since found out that Gary had the same thing happen to his.
Bushtracker apparently haven't been made aware of many failures, but in both of our cases we had the older 3mm cable fitted, the cable had jumped off the roller at the front of van and jammed between roller and bracket, and both cables broke where it rubs on the chain link welded to chassis towards the rear of van. We both now have the thicker 4mm cable that
Bushtracker are currently fitting to new vans. It is important to note that there is a special hand brake cable, so don't replace yours with the clothesline cable from a hardware store. On my van, the old AL-KO bracket that supports the roller at the front of the van was shapped differently to the new ones and it allowed the 3mm cable to get caught easily. The new bracket prevents this by having a longer flat section next to the pulley. At the rear of the van I now have my 4mm cable running over a pulley secured to the welded chain link by a D shackle. Steve doesn't recommend this and has an engineering company working on a better way to run the cable. At the front chain link I intend to run the cable inside a greased tube that is bent to the right angles and secured by bolts to the chassis. Have any other owners made modifications to how the hand brake cable is routed? Owners should regulary check for wear on the cables at these rub points and also the chain link itself as one of ours is badly warn on the inside from the cable. Brian
Reply By: Wadefarers - Sunday, Oct 26, 2003 at 06:24
Sunday, Oct 26, 2003 at 06:24
Brian Had the same thing happen back in June when heading up for a little break and also to BTI to have the Webasto fitted. Fortunately it happened on the way up, on the road between Goondawindi and Dalby, and Steve said at the time that had not happened very often and it was fixed by them. Now am very aware of the hand brake cable. Regards Jeff
AnswerID:
559936
Reply By: Deleted User - Sunday, Oct 26, 2003 at 06:25
Sunday, Oct 26, 2003 at 06:25
I'm currently working on a fix for mine. I'm looking at getting two cables made by a cable maker who specialises in this type of gear for trucks etc. It looks like a handbrake cable for a car but bigger. I'm using the 11mm diameter sheath with flexible spiral wound metal inner sheath and plastic outer sheath. It uses a "rated" 3.5mm high strength cable and swagged ends forming a cable ball. The cable ball sits in a receiver that attaches to the brake actuator on the inner plate of the brakedrum area. One bracket will mount the cable using the two bolts of the simplicity suspension by way of a 6mm steel plate ....the sheathed cable will go forward to another 6mm bracket mounted on the crossbrace just forward of the gas bottles. A smaller unsheathed bit of cable will join this to the handbrake wheel ...this small length of cable now has no stress or wear points so will last heaps longer. These sheathed cables are completely sealed (water proof and dust proof) at each end by grommet/caps and lubed for long term use ..... expected life is the same as a handbrake cable of an average 4x4 as a minimum. I dont have the quote yet but I estimate the cables (3.5 metres x 2) to be around $350 with cable ball attaching brackets ..the mounting brackets I can fabricate. My cable eyes are worn through about 15 % already and my van has much less use compared to most. The new cable is stronger but would still wear the mild steel cable eyes through in my opinion with obvious consequences. As Brian has said grab the breakaway if this cable snaps and the van runs away ...( chocks before unhitching keeps 90% of runaway under control) I've got into the habit of repeating to myself every time I hitch/unhitch if the van goes pull the breakaway cable. It's amazing how this is now firmly in my mind. If the van runs pull the breakaway .... If the van runs pull the breakaway ... If the van runs pull the breakaway ... Regards Anthony Explore this Great Land ... Do it Easy ...Tow a
Bushtracker
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