Spring found, from the Explorer?

[IAmTodd]

Pulled in the driveway tonight and found a spring laying where the truck was parked last night. I can't recall if it belongs to the truck or not. It's about 8 inches long.

 

[Anime]

Looks like the parking brake return spring for the drivers side.

 

[swshawaii]

BINGO! Anime, you're seriously good. It's almost scary. LOL

 

[IAmTodd]

Perfect guys! My cables look a little different but I got it back in place. I'm thinking I may have to go one more notch up as there isn't a whole lot of tension on it. It seems this keeps tension on the cable going to the pedal.

 

[Anime]

The pic is from a newer Explorer with the more complicated cable setup, the first gen is much simpler.

I'd actually suggest getting a new spring, it doesn't have anything to do with the pedal tension (there's a spring-loaded cable tensioner/retractor in the pedal assembly for that), what it does do is yank the cable back and keeps the drum brake shoes from rubbing against the drum. A weak spring means dragging drum brakes, hot drums from being engaged when driving, and new shoes/drums way sooner than normal.

You can get new springs in the HELP! section of the auto parts store, they sell individual springs, but they also sell a pack of springs which is only a buck or two more and has a nice big thick spring in there. You can also get even thicker, stronger springs at the hardware store. I went for a much, much, thicker, longer spring that snaps the cable back and leaves no chance of the shoes dragging.

Bend the ends to the right length, install, and enjoy the benefits of drum brakes that don't drag.

You also might want to check the brake cables going to each drum, if the water and snow and salt penetrates the metal housing and rusts the cable to the sheath, the parking brake won't fully engage and the brake shoes won't fully retract. Fix is new cables, well worth what they cost, even if you get aftermarket.

 

[Tbars4]

The pic is from a newer Explorer with the more complicated cable setup, the first gen is much simpler.

..Actually, that picture is from my early '91 X just before I installed my sliders and the forum member who needed help added the letters to my picture for discussion on how to re-attach his own parking brake spring as the 93-94 models I believe are set up different..

..If we could find what thread that picture originated from, we should have the answer and the differences..

 

[IAmTodd]

That would explain tbars. I believe mine matches the newer style.

Anime, I also don't see how this does anything to disengage the brakes. This spring just seems to keep tension on the cable going to the pedal. I do not have issues with dragging brakes and they operate just fine. No need to go replacing cables and springs when it's not needed.

 

[Anime]

There is a spiral-wound spring tensioner in the parking brake pedal assembly that keeps the cable tension on that end.

The long cable on the drivers side pulls the front/middle cable back, and pushes the two rear cables back. If the cables are not fully retracted, the rear brake shoes do not fully return to their resting position, and rub on the drum, however little.

You can see how the spring works if you pull off the drum. Engage the parking brake, the shoes push out, the spring stretches. Release the parking brake, the shoes go back in some, but the cable prevents them going back the rest of the way. Without a strong spring, they will remain like that.

A weak spring is fine if everything is brand new and the cables are super slick. With old cables, old brakes, rusted metal, a weak old rusted spring that's half as strong as it was 20 years ago is not going to cut it.

If you're sure the shoes aren't rubbing, fine. Even with all new drum brakes and hardware and cables, mine dragged until I replaced the old stock spring with a new stronger one.