Here is a video, for a Jimmy but at least its something, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW5d6g-vpQ0.

Like you I couldn’t find a definitive way to tell when the e brake cable needs to be replaced. I would only do it if it wasn’t catching after trying to adjust it.

(Especially since I had no adjusters at all in this ’95 my son just bought.)

One thing which isn’t immediately obvious from the photos or description, is how the parking brake lever attaches to the brake shoe. (If you pay attention taking it apart, you can see, but if you don’t, . . .)

Both Chilton and AllData don’t give much of a description of it, either.

The top of the barking brake actuator has a little hook that slips into a part of the shoe, going *behind* the shoe. The parking brake strut (side with the spring) then goes around the front shoe (with the slight arch on the top), and the other end of the strut goes around the back shoe and parking brake lever together.

Also, I put the adjuster cable on the opposite order, hooked the loop on the top, then rotating the adjusting lever up, it is easy to hook the spring on the appropriate part on the level (there’s even a slot for it to slide in, easy to do when the lever’s rotated up).

Other than figuring out the parking brake lever placement, this guide was the most helpful and complete I’ve found. Thanks so much.

Also, how does one tell if you need rear parking brake cables? Prior to this job, the parking brake didn’t hold much at all.

The shoes (and hold down kit) were seriously messed on both sides, and there was *no* self adjuster on either side. So yeah; not much of a chance for the parking brake to work.

But after doing this work, I only have slightly more grip on the parking brake. The parking brake pedal shows no resistance until about half way, then it does seem to resist and tighten up the brakes slightly, but bottoms out.

Is this just a matter of tightening up the front parking brake cable nut, or is this a sign that the rear cables are toast?

(They look newish, and seem to slide from my quick examination; hard to tell too much with that big spring at the end fighting you, though. I’m working solo so I had no-one to try the pedal while I watched the cable motion.)

Also, I figured I’d wait until they self-adjusted over the next few days, before messing with the parking brake.

(Hopefully I won’t have to go in again; to do the cables, I believe I have to take all the shoes and gear off each side again to replace those. D’oh. Although the second side took *way* less time than the first, after my re-education in the way of drum brakes.)

Thanks for any tips.