Electric fence wire?

[Greg]

Greetings, everyone!

Rear drum brakes: I had a problem where my parking brake cable spring was rubbing against my wheel hub and making a screeching noise as the wheel turned. The spring was completely cut through, so I replaced that, but the replacement part didn’t come with a boot where the cable comes out of the backing plate, so if it’s held at just the right angle, no problem, but holding it there is the tricky part, and no parts place I’ve talked to carries anything like that boot.

I thought that if I were to pull the cable away with some electric fence wire I’ve got lying around, it might work, but I’m worried that the heat of the brakes would make that a bad idea if it were to melt and get loose in there.

Can anyone tell me if it could withstand the heat?

Thanks greatly,
-Greg

Topic

[Andrew Phillips]

Could you perhaps get a boot from the dealer or online? I would look it up for you but you didn’t give year/make/model. Electric fence wire is usually steel, but it can be brittle. The heat should be no problem, but rust and stress may be a different story.

[Ben]

I worry about the stress on the cable over time, just like Cap269 this is one of those situation where i always suggest the local scrap yard.Often times I find those little things like boots. springs, random connectors and all other various and sundry things which are either special order or dealer only if you can even find them there.

[Greg]

Thanks a lot for the advice! I’ll condense the following saga down to the essentials and spare you the gory details.

So, I had ended up making some quite clever hacks out of the electric fence wire, and I thought it looked pretty good and rugged (I even made a few videos to showcase my supposed genius 🙂 ), but things didn’t line up by the equalizer, so more wire there. When I checked on it a day later (after only having gone once across town), that second one had fallen apart, so I figured that was a sign that I ought to start over.

It bugged me that it didn’t line up at the equalizer anyway, so I took it all apart and started it again from there. Turns out I should have done that all along, because things just started lining up! The equalizer looked more… equal, the brackets fit better, and thank goodness I saw the recent Fix it Forward video on the minivan, because I saw how he pulled the spring away so the shoe fit on, which is what had prevented me from trying this way before. So now the cable is taut inside the spring, which means that it lies flat, which means that there’s no more screeching sound and no need for a hack!

Now as for that boot, if the scrapyard fails me, how about electrical tape and zip ties? 😉

Many thanks again,
-Greg

[Lee Ann]

[quote=”sirgregsalot” post=143725]Thanks a lot for the advice! I’ll condense the following saga down to the essentials and spare you the gory details.

So, I had ended up making some quite clever hacks out of the electric fence wire, and I thought it looked pretty good and rugged (I even made a few videos to showcase my supposed genius 🙂 ), but things didn’t line up by the equalizer, so more wire there. When I checked on it a day later (after only having gone once across town), that second one had fallen apart, so I figured that was a sign that I ought to start over.

It bugged me that it didn’t line up at the equalizer anyway, so I took it all apart and started it again from there. Turns out I should have done that all along, because things just started lining up! The equalizer looked more… equal, the brackets fit better, and thank goodness I saw the recent Fix it Forward video on the minivan, because I saw how he pulled the spring away so the shoe fit on, which is what had prevented me from trying this way before. So now the cable is taut inside the spring, which means that it lies flat, which means that there’s no more screeching sound and no need for a hack!

Now as for that boot, if the scrapyard fails me, how about electrical tape and zip ties? 😉

Many thanks again,
-Greg[/quote]

Do you happen to have a length of rubber tubing (new/unused vacuum line or new/unused fuel line) of proper diameter?

[Author]

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