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MG TD TF 1500 - Parking brake cables too short

I installed my parking brake cables today and they are too short. The brass cap is fitted the correct was to allow the cable to enter about 2 inches. I tried to figure out what the problem is for a couple of hours. Anyone see anything amiss? These cable are covered in a black rubber sheath. The ones I've seen in various web pictures are metal cables. Thanks for any advice.

Regards

Tim
TD12524

Tim Burchfield

Tim

This is out of left field, any chance you have routed the cables over the chassis rails instead of underneath. Mine are rubber sheathed and fit perfectly.

Graeme
G Evans

Graeme, thanks for the suggestion. At this point I'll take advice from out of the ball park. I just went out to the garage and checked and the cables run under the frame rails. I removed one and it is 39" long. Moss sent me a picture of their cable 331-283 (which I have) and it is 39" long. I'm at a loss.

Regards

Tim
Tim Burchfield

Can we see a picture of the connection at the brake drums?
L E D LaVerne

Here it is.

Tim

Tim Burchfield

Here's another.

Tim

Tim Burchfield

If anyone could chek these dimensions on their car I would appreciate it.

Tim

Tim Burchfield

Tim

OK This probably explains the cause of your problem, I made the same measurements on my TF. The 4inch dimension I agree with, the 91/2inch is 9inches on my car.

I think there have been previous posts on this subject with owners experiencing the same difficulty.

Graeme
G Evans

Tim. I noticed that on one of those images the silencer appears to be mounted incorrectly - as I understand it, the centreline should be above the pipe run to give more ground clearance. That's the way it is on my TF anyway.
Dave H
Dave Hill

Dave you may be right as the seam on my Lukey muffler is on top. But what I thought was a little odd was the orientation of the tail pipe. It seems to be 180 degrees out of whack insomuch as the pipe appears to hump up at the rear axle where it should take a dive there to ensure it is well clear of the axle, should it not? Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

My perception is that the muffler and tailpipe are not installed, just laying on the ground. Could be a mirage.
G Evans

I think they are installed. The tailpipe is completely different to my set up - mine goes dead straight from the back of the silencer, then kinks upwardly under the the axle then kinks back level again where the rearmost bracket is close to the bumper, to a horizontal tail pipe.
Dave H
Dave Hill

Looking at Dave Braun's site it would appear that even though the cable length is correct your outer cable is too long. It may be that it just needs the spiral winding compressing.
You could cut a piece of pipe and use a nut to pull it into shape.
Possibly you could photograph your cable in the same position as your Moss photo and compare images.
Ray TF 2884
Ray Lee

Gentlemen the exhaust system is installed and any discrepancies you see I think are from camera distortion. Here is a photo from Moss of part number 331-085. The bottom cable is the one off of my car. The measurements are all very close between the two cables. Moss uses a 39" ruler while mine is a 36". But both cables are just over 39". Thanks for any input you may have.

Tim
TD12524

Tim Burchfield

SOLVED! I backed off the brake adjusters 4 or 5 clicks and I had plenty of rod to push through the cross piece. I went back and adjusted the the brakes one click shy of locking up and the brakes and parking brake work perfectly. Thanks everyone for your input. People on this are always ready to help.

Regards

Tim
TD12524
Tim Burchfield

I believe Morris Minor cables are similar and maybe could be confused for T Series ones but I suspect they would be longer?

Jan T
J Targosz

Thank you Tim.

I had to replace my break cables today. I got mine from AS, but there seems to be a common supplier. Made in England. Plastic covered with grease fitting.

When I got to the last connection they appeared to be short.
Backing off the break adjusters did the job.

Jim B.
JA Benjamin

Jim, glad my post was of use to you. A small return for the assistance I've gotten from you and many others here.

Regards

Tim
TD12524
Tim Burchfield

IMHO, backing off the adjusters is a very bad idea and not fixing the problem. By doing that, it does allow the cylinder arm to extend, thereby lengthening the cable. However, this will cause the outer piston to be pushed out from the cylinder at rest. The shoe return spring tension will be pressing on the piston/lever/cable, rather than seated on the cylinder body. This will also prevent the rubber seal from contacting the cylinder allowing moisture, etc. to enter the cylinder at all times. I think better idea to reshape or grind a little off of the cylinder lever arm where it engages the piston. There used to be nice fairly original metal sheathed cables, guess no one could find a supplier any more? George
George Butz

Upon further review, I think backing off adjuster method is dangerous. Using an original old Lockheed cylinder, to move the lever out 1/2" to gain length moves the outer piston half of its possible travel outward. If there is any much shoe wear, the hydraulic piston will then hit and stop on the lever, etc. So again, much better to reshape the end of the lever. George
George Butz

This thread was discussed between 04/07/2017 and 08/07/2017

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