Technical Parking brake knowledge requested...

Well, went out and got a new project (58 Nomad), but in all the excitement I made a rookie mistake... Yup, When we got the car on the trailer and were securing it I set the parking brake without thinking. .. Now it is stuck, and still on the trailer. Any thoughts on how to free this up?

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Crawl underneath and cut the cables with a pair of bolt cutters.

 

I crawled under and there doesnt seem to be any tension on the cables... will jack up one wheel at a time and see if problem is localized to one side.

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The bare part of the cables would be loose if the, the cable is stuck/rusted in the steel jacketed conduit to each rear brake..


Most times you can free them up unless they look like a "ball of rust". Spray where you can, the try to shove the bare cable back in a bit, a little at a time.

I prefer fixing OEM parts rather than putting new poorly made ones on. You decide by looking at them, if they are worth messing with.

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You can try tapping on the backing plate or yank the wheels and tap on the drums, some time it’s enough to move the parking brake lever and free up the shoes.

I have had luck in the past if it’s a metal cable in a metal jacket, hooking a battery charger up , positive on one end and negative on the other. The cable heats right up inside the jacket and you move it back and forth and free it up
Basically causing a short circuit and the cable is the load. This is with both ends of the cable free so you can work it.
Wear gloves and don’t touch the cable..... yeah it hurts!

 

If you have rusted wheel cylinders and accidentally pushed the foot brake you might have jammed the pistons and locked the brakes.

Charlie Stephens

 

I jacked up each wheel while it was on trailer. Front p***enger spun freely, driver front had quite a bit of drag, both rears had alot of drag also. Worked all of them around clockwise and counter clockwise several dozen times and they seemed to free up a little. Was able to push the car back on the trailer about a foot. I think I'm good now, just waiting on a friend to pull the wheel stops, and it should roll down! Thanks for the advice!
I have to let the budget recover for a few months, but I'll post more when i start turning wrenches!

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I've lived in CT my whole life...those cars were rotted out at 10 years old here...I can't get over the solid condition of the cars/trucks out there. I see the gr*** and trees look green, so you get damp there...yet the metal looks like desert dry.

send me a car, will ya?

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i don't usually like the new style wheels but those really fit that car.
cool car good luck with it.

 

Its got rust in the p***enger floor pans, several random small rust spots, and a line of rust bubbles on the bottom of the tail gate, but not bad for its age...
Even though it rains alot here we dont get snow but maybe once or twice per year, and until two or three years ago they used a co**** sand on the roads instead of salt. I think that's pay off the reason cars stay fairly solid around here ( considering its a rain forest).



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Nice. Congrats. Another one gone from Oregon .