MartinM 0 Posted October 14, 2007 Fitted new handbrake cables for the Harvest road rally last night.... ...on one particularly exciting corner the handbrake went very loose and came up to about 45 degrees. Quick disassembly this afternoon shows that on one cable the plastic insert that goes into the tube by the handbrake had fractured around where it changes diameter to butt against the end of the tube - and the larger diameter outer part had travelled 30mm or so up the cable outer towards the rear of the car, making the cable essentially 30mm longer Interestingly, the two cables were from different manufacturers - the still good one has a metal band crimped around the larger diameter plastic end, but the failed one has some holes in the plastic that look like they are there for a reason, but no metal band So: - is it faulty manufacture - metal band missing? - is it just a cr$p design from that manufacturer - all the cable tension is trying to push the small diameter end off? - are there any cables that have all-metal ends rather than plastic? Will be taking it back, but the shop knows it was "motorsport use" failure so may not be interested... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve@cornwall 100 Posted October 14, 2007 Fitted new handbrake cables for the Harvest road rally last night.......on one particularly exciting corner the handbrake went very loose and came up to about 45 degrees. Quick disassembly this afternoon shows that on one cable the plastic insert that goes into the tube by the handbrake had fractured around where it changes diameter to butt against the end of the tube - and the larger diameter outer part had travelled 30mm or so up the cable outer towards the rear of the car, making the cable essentially 30mm longer Interestingly, the two cables were from different manufacturers - the still good one has a metal band crimped around the larger diameter plastic end, but the failed one has some holes in the plastic that look like they are there for a reason, but no metal band So: - is it faulty manufacture - metal band missing? - is it just a cr$p design from that manufacturer - all the cable tension is trying to push the small diameter end off? - are there any cables that have all-metal ends rather than plastic? Will be taking it back, but the shop knows it was "motorsport use" failure so may not be interested... I had a brand new cable do this at mot 2 years ago. The jubilee clip I put on it (Temporarily ) to get through the test (aren't my garage testers good?) is still holding up well after about 15000 miles Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MartinM 0 Posted October 14, 2007 Interesting idea - I've already got jubilee clips around the exhaust rubbers, maybe need some small ones around the h/b cable ends too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joey 0 Posted October 14, 2007 Had this happen me aswell.. Just fitted two new cables so i went to bed them in and when i was coming back i whipped up the handbrke going in the gate and it travelled up very high....Crudd!! The plastic sleeve had broken where it goes into the tunnel which goes up into floor. They were poor quality, think the OE ones had metal bands instead of plastic..got them replaced for nothing iirc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cybernck 400 1 Cars Posted October 14, 2007 i broke LOADS in my autotesting/autoslalom days . pattern ones usually lasted for few handbrake turns, while some old genuine ones (with metal instead of plastic?) seemed to last OK but the cable itself got stretched... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
