Help Needed - Attaching Handbrake Cable

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05-10-2009, 01:27 PM
Zilli

Help Needed - Attaching Handbrake Cable

Hi All,

I was working on painting my rear calipers, as such i had done the following to give myself access to all the areas required;

1) Removed both bolts holding the caliper together to remove the front brake pad
2) Dissasembled the where the actual end of the handbrake cables meets with the caliper (held in by a pin)
3) Dissasembled the handbrake assembly from the hug (one 17mm bolt)

No im reassembling, ive got the pad and calipre bolts together, but am having trouble getting point 2 reassembled... It's as if the cable has gotten shorter. In an effort to bring the caliper mount which pivots on a sprint around to meet the end of the cable, ive been using the large nut holding the sprint in place as leverage, but cannot get it to turn enough.

ive plaed with the two nuts on either side of the rubber boot at the end of the handbrake cable, under the impression that this will shorten or extend the hdnabrake cable but cannot seem to work it out.

Im thinking there must be a way to make the cable longer so i can get the extra 5 mm of room i need to slide the pin back in the hole...

Am i doing it the right way guys? any tips or pointers? Ive only dissasembled the left side at this stage just for this reason (not being able to put back). Worst comes to worst, if i leave it disconnected, will my right wheel still hold as a handbrake? until i can get it to someone?

Cheers boys
05-10-2009, 03:21 PM
mocchi

how about you loosen them up from the cabin handbrake side?
05-10-2009, 03:42 PM
aaronng

^^ Agreed. Slacken the handbrake cable at the actual handbrake itself to give you that 5mm.
05-10-2009, 05:26 PM
Zilli

Hmmmmm unsure how to do that. Any thoughts? Its going for a service this week. If I leave it disconnected for my guy to attach, will it effect the normal brake functionality? The right side (which I haven't touched yet) will still act normally as a handbrake correct?
05-10-2009, 05:33 PM
mocchi

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zilli

Hmmmmm unsure how to do that.

take off your handbrake cover, and you'll know what to do.
turning the adjuster screw counter clockwise to loosen as usual.

hope that makes sense.
06-10-2009, 06:59 AM
Zilli

sweet mate, thanks very much for the quick response....

im going to give it a go when i can, but just as a worst case scenario, if i dont have the time to do it before the car goes in for service this thursday, can i leave it detached, and rely on the right hand side to grab as the handbrake? will this effect anything?
06-10-2009, 07:14 AM
aaronng

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zilli

sweet mate, thanks very much for the quick response....

im going to give it a go when i can, but just as a worst case scenario, if i dont have the time to do it before the car goes in for service this thursday, can i leave it detached, and rely on the right hand side to grab as the handbrake? will this effect anything?

With only the right side, you lose 1/2 your parking brake which on some cars will mean rolling down the hill if you don't leave the car in gear when parked.
06-10-2009, 07:16 AM
Zilli

itll be in the garage until thursday morning then parked in the shop.... no hills....

thanks Aaronng.... will keep you all posted
06-10-2009, 08:38 AM
aaronng

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zilli

itll be in the garage until thursday morning then parked in the shop.... no hills....

thanks Aaronng.... will keep you all posted

Also make sure you secure the cable on the left side. Don't want it jamming into the hub/rotor/rims when you drive it to the mechanic.

Personally, I wouldn't use the handbrake at all until you get the left side reattached. That's what bricks are for. :p
06-10-2009, 01:49 PM
Zilli

LOL... good point, the overhang is very small so not much chance of it jamming anywhere... bricks aplenty in my garage at the moment!
06-10-2009, 02:44 PM
vinnY

can't just take off the caliper, hook it back up then see whether you can pull it over the pads?
06-10-2009, 08:45 PM
Zilli

i could, would rather not... i dont have a clamp for the brake line, and only two hands... if i have time i will try to loosen the cable from the handle... otherwise will leave as is for my mechanic to put on
06-10-2009, 10:12 PM
vinnY

well you don't have to take off the brake line, just unbolt the brake line bracket's bolt that attaches the line to the trailing arm and it should give you enough slack to move it around more

get the handbrake line hooked up again, bolt up the caliper again and secure the brake line to the trailing arm
done!
07-10-2009, 06:26 AM
Zilli

hmmmm i tried to located a braket for the line mount but couldnt find it! I dont have much room to work with as my garage is a shambles at the moment... i'll give that i go if i have time tonight, otherwise it's off to the mechnics tomorrow morning

Thanks mate
07-10-2009, 09:14 AM
aaronng

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zilli

hmmmm i tried to located a braket for the line mount but couldnt find it! I dont have much room to work with as my garage is a shambles at the moment... i'll give that i go if i have time tonight, otherwise it's off to the mechnics tomorrow morning

Thanks mate

Just follow the brake fluid line from the caliper and it will be bolted on a bracket to the suspension arm (10mm bolt). Undo that, and the 2 bolts holding the caliper to the bracket and you have much better movement of the caliper to reach that handbrake cable.
07-10-2009, 09:16 AM
vinnY

yep located about 20-30cm up the line or so
12mm bolt iirc and off it comes
it is an awkward position to do any work on it though unless you stick your head under the car

edit; took forever but i finally found a photo for you
check this post, the last photo shows the brake line bracket thats attached to the arm
11-10-2009, 12:08 PM
Zilli

ok so i got it all back together, i wanted to write it up in here in case someone else has the same issue...

As explained above, i took off the hanbrake cover and notice immediately that the right hand side cable (still attached) had taken up all the slack. The swivelling bracket that the two cables connect forced this to happen... as such, i loosened the nut a bit to give more slack, then i manually manipulated the braket to being straight, and put a stubby screwdriver between the braket and the spring which stopped it from moving... this allowed me to re-attached the handbrake... so all done, albeit with a bit of drag in the read brakes which i dont think is related to this issue...

Second part, i have a question, you guys above have noted that the brake line bracket which can be undone... my question is, will removal of this allow easy removal of the caliper to change/remove pads? my entire issue started from my requirement to get the pads out so i can paint the calipers without messing them up...

How exactly do you replace rear pads?