Tens years ago my Parking brake front cable broke at the usual place.
I just now decided to replace the cable.
NAPA had a quality cable,identical to the original.
I spend five hours today replacing the front cable thanks to the articles posted here.
Everything went well,even though it was snowing.
The rear parking brake levers,springs and cables were free to move and free of rust.(desert truck).
I hop in the drivers seat and pull the parking brake handle. It is very hard to pull. As in a frozen lawn mower rope starter.
I followed the cable path 100%. No tight bends any where.
For some unknown reason the whole system is just hardbto pull and set the brakes.
I checked the new cable and made sure it is going over the plastic pulley. It is. No tight bends. All the rear parts are free to move and easy to do so.
I have no idea why it is so hard to set the brakes.
Any ideas?

 

How far out is it pulling? I just done the brakes all the way around my truck and it does not seem to pull very far out at all but if I forget to release the parking brake, it will not move.

The slug at the end of the cable is not to big that it is dragging inside the handle is it?

 

The handle pulls out perhaps 5". It takes a lot of force to do it.
The release seems normal,the light goes out. The braking force is weak as there is still some slight slack in the rear cables going to the levers on the rear brakes.
The "nub" rubbing could be a problem. I will try to oil the inside of the tube.

 

Im sure sitting for ten years has gummed up the back half of the Parking brake. try and oil the cable on the back half. Mine did the same hard to pull. i ran some 3in1 oil on the back half cable and eventually got better when the oil soaked in

 

See if the cable pivots like it should where it is attached to the differential.

Your sure the Bell Cranks are not seized even in the Desert that is along time.

Make sure the intermediate lever is not seized

 

I "think" the problem is in the handle itself. The grease has turned into tar. I should have pulled the handle out of the truck and used brake cleaner on the tube.
I did notice that the T-handle can spin in a full circle. Is this normal?

 

Grease ??

Do I really want to know why there is grease on the emergency brake handle.

Maybe some spray lube every 250,000 miles.

Grease with the normal dust and grit from the desert should make for an interesting mix. Then let it sit for several years .

Not sure about the handle rotating with checking.

 

The handle is a little easier to pull after I used some light oil in the tube. Still not what I would call normal.

 

How much was the napa cable? I assumed this cable was gonna be a dealer only item. The front cable on my Xtracab is broken. It wasn't an issue with the PO since the truck was an auto. Now it's a five speed.

 

31 bucks. It is not a Chinese knock off. It matches the OEM even down to the coating on the cable itself.

 

Oil helped and it freed up the handle