1st gen emergency brake spring??

[sid]

Hi, I have replaced the emergency brake pedal/rachet / cable. When I pull on the brake release it does not recoil. I have to pushe the release back for one ..... and put my foot under the pedal to raise it for another thing.. Am i missing a spring some where near the ratchet, or is the spring in the brake drum.-------------------
And how do I get the brake drum off? hammer taping. At the very least I need to look at the rear brakes .
Thanks Sid

[ofcmarc]

Hi, I have replaced the emergency brake pedal/rachet / cable. When I pull on the brake release it does not recoil. I have to pushe the release back for one ..... and put my foot under the pedal to raise it for another thing.. Am i missing a spring some where near the ratchet, or is the spring in the brake drum.-------------------
And how do I get the brake drum off? hammer taping. At the very least I need to look at the rear brakes .
Thanks Sid

Make sure the brake cables are adjusted correctly under the driver's side of the truck. A loose cable will keep the pedal from returning al the way

[sid]

Thanks, how do I get the drum off to look at pads?
and is the pedal recoil come from the springs in the drum.
Sid

[PToombs]

The pedal return is from the springs in the drum.
To remove the drum, pull the axle out. Inside is a nut, clean it and look close. It may have a small sheet metal wedge holding the nut, or it may be 2 nuts locked together. Depends on who did what in there. You need a 2 9/16 socket to pull the nut. Then you just wiggle the drum, and hope the brake shoes aren't too tight and hold it on.
You are going to get gear oil out after you remove the axle.
If the axle has bolts, pull them and pull the axle. If it has nuts, remove the nuts and washers (if it's got'em) and whack the axle with a big hammer. Over 3 lbs. There are wedges (cone shaped) on the studs, this will loosen them some. I use a small screw driver, drive it in the opening in the wedge, twist and pull, usually they come out.

[RumbleFish]

Adding to what Pete said, I have had decent luck with jacking up one side at a time to not dump gear oil everywhere (this comes from back in the day when I was able to swap cv shafts on my hot rod neon in 10 minutes. It seemed to go through quite a few of them with an unsprung clutch disc). And as far as the tapered washer s.o.b.'s under the axle shaft flange nuts, I have had the best results from whacking the outer circumference of the axle with a bfh. It seems to work better for me than hitting the end of the axle in the middle like it would make sense to do when you first look at it. If you have the bolts instead, don't worry about it.

[ofcmarc]

Try an air hammer. They will wiggle most anything loose.

[BEARKILLER]

And how do I get the brake drum off? hammer taping. At the very least I need to look at the rear brakes .
Thanks Sid

There should also be a spring on the adjuster/equalizer bracket, where the one cable connects to the two cables.

I suspect that one, or both, of your housed cables are frozen inside the sheathing.

Not sure of what you are meaning by "get the drum off"; but, there is more to it than merely getting the tire/wheel off and knocking loose a drum.

These axles have floating axles and integral drums/hubs.

The axle is pulled, the wheel-bearings removed, the hub/drum can then be slid off, and the brakes exposed.

Buy a set of park-brake cables, before going into the rear brakes.

Once you get the new cables installed, use them everytime you park the truck.

This is one case where not using them will actually shorten their useful life.

[dpuckett]

If your pedal isnt returning, I'd say it's out of adjustment, either under the cab where the cables split to go to either side, or the rear brakes themselves.

There is a spring for the release handle as well.

The 1stGen Dodge trucks use inboard drums. To what purpose, I have no idea. My 88Ford had outboard drums (just remove tires, pull drum, and there ye be). My 99 D80 has outboard drums as well. Both are/were full floaters.

I have a set of p-brake cables. PM for further details.

Daniel