installing parking brake cable

[1971ford]

a bump equipped with a underbed tank has a longer cable, and a bump without the underbed has a shorter. my 71 had a underbed tank, and my 69 doesnt. im putting the 71 tank and cable into the 69, and im putting the 69 cable into the 71.

first, what is the easiest way to install a parking brake cable? i cant get it through the cab support, its almost impossible to get it near the hole on the underside where the p-brake should exit. the way im trying is im taking the end that connects to the swinging mechanism under the bed, and im trying to feed that through the cab hole and through the cab mount since the other way seems it would be harder because there are more things sticking off the cable to catch on the holes in the cab mount. any tips?

second, i forgot to check, are the holes for the swinging bar allready drilled into the crossmember on a dual tank truck?

[1971ford]

now im pouting

[FORDification]

I've only done this once. It's been a while, but I don't recall having any problems at all. I don't understand why it would be that difficult, if you remove the front mount's access panel and have one hand inside there to thread it up through the hole. I seem to remember it slipping right in, right up to the hole in the floorpan, where I then had to use some needle-nose ViceGrips to reach down through the floorpan hole and pull it up.

In the following pictures, the cabs are flipped up on their backs for easy access to the cab bottoms.

The yellow arrow in this picture points to where the cable inserts into the cab mount:



Now, this picture is a cut-away...(errr...rust-away) of the setup:



You can see that if you were to remove the cab mount's front access cover, you can stick a hand up inside and guide the end of the cable up to the hole in the floorpan. Once the end is up to the hole, you should be able to grab it and pull it up inside the cab.

[1971ford]

gosh dangit
why am i so stupid, i didnt even see the access panel

THANKS KEITH!
ill get it done tomorrow!

[FORDification]

Glad to help!

[1971ford]

ok i got that part done, but now im in another pickle.

i thought the rear cables would be the same and not have to be swapped with the 69, but when i put the 69's front cable, and equilizer mechanism on, the rear cables are like 2" short and the extensions make it way too long

do i have to swap those for the 69's?

[1971ford]

bump