Ideas for routing emergency brake cable to C4 rear eBrakes

[NickP]

LOL, y'all are going to have to slow down a bit, I'm running out of popcorn and soda trying to keep up with this 3rd grade school yard crap.

[chevynut]

LOL, y'all are going to have to slow down a bit, I'm running out of popcorn and soda trying to keep up with this 3rd grade school yard crap.

Isn't that the truth.

[Custer55]

Back to the original topic Here is what I came up with to hook the Lokar cables to the calipers.
I ordered the clevis kit that Lokar specifies for 88 and up Corvettes (80wc) which I guess would work ok but I just didn't like how they hooked up.

The clevis and pin hook over the e-brake lever just fine with out the cable attached. But with the cable in the clevis the cable end contacts the back side of the lever so the cable gets cocked in the clevis. I didn't want to grind down the cable end as I wasn't sure how that would affect how well the ball end is attached to the cable. I tried filing the bracket a bit but whatever the e-brake lever arms are made out of is super hard (my Dremmel with a carbide cutter would barely do anything to it) so modifying the arms is a no go.


So I just made my own clevis from 11 gauge steel to more or less duplicate the end of the stock cable. It was a real pain to make it and I need to make a second one, but I didn't want to spend $32. or more for the 84 to 87 Vette style clevis not knowing if they would be any better or not.


Here is my clevis in place on the caliper. Looks like the cable spring will need to be shortened, or maybe just left out.


From the top view you can see how the Lokar cable is attached. I think this will work ok.
Brian

[chevynut]

Funny, I was going to suggest making your own clevis but for as cheap as they are I thought...naw, it's just not worth the time.

Are you saying the clevis they sell isn't long enough causing the ball at the end of the cable to contact the lever?

I still haven't looked at the difference between the early and late levers. Looks to me like either the Corvette clevis or Ford clevis should work, based on the pics they have of them. To be honest I ordered the part number they specified, and expected to get the "Corvette" clevis they show, not the Wilwood type.

[Custer55]

Funny, I was going to suggest making your own clevis but for as cheap as they are I thought...naw, it's just not worth the time.

Are you saying the clevis they sell isn't long enough causing the ball at the end of the cable to contact the lever?

I still haven't looked at the difference between the early and late levers. Looks to me like either the Corvette clevis or Ford clevis should work, based on the pics they have of them. To be honest I ordered the part number they specified, and expected to get the "Corvette" clevis they show, not the Wilwood type.

Yep, the end of the cable hits the backside of the lever. It actually has to go in crooked to get the clevis pin to go in. I assume it must work ok with the Wilwood caliper but it's a bad compromise for the late Corvette based on my experience. I should have just made my own to begin with but I didn't think a company like Lokar would sell a part that works so poorly.
Brian

[chevynut]

I sent an e-mail to Lokar to ask them why the 84-87 Corvette clevis won't work on the later C4s. I asked for opening size on both the Corvette and Ford versions. Also told them that the Wilwood clevis doesn't work correctly.

[chevynut]

Here's the response from Lokar regarding the fitment of the 80WC and slot sizes:

"The clevis should not be to short, the end sticking out past the ball may do too long and can be trimmed down just do not get any closer than .010 to the ball. The other clevises are .350 on the 80cc, and .475 on the 81FC. If you have any more questions let me know."

I asked about the slot width on the other clevises and got this:

"... the width on both is .250 ."

I just measured the opening in the e-brake cable on a late suspension and it's .250"x.350". So it sure seems like the 80CC should work on the late C4 suspensions.

[Custer55]

The 80cc clevis should work fine on the 88 - 96 then, I made my slots 1/4" x 3/8". It would have helped to know you can shorten the cable end, nothing in the cable instructions that said that and no instructions at all with the 80wc clevis. I'll see if I can return the 80wc clevises since the ones I made will work just fine. I don't understand why they would spec the 80wc for 88 -96 Corvette???
Brian

[chevynut]

I don't understand why they would spec the 80wc for 88 -96 Corvette???

I don't either. I asked them that question with my last e-mail, and haven't heard a reply yet. Maybe someone screwed up on their part number list, because the 80CC should work just fine.

[Custer55]

Just thought of this. The factory cable has a bevel in the opening on the end opposite the cable. When I made my own clevis I had to duplicate that bevel to get it to go over the parking brake lever.
Brian