Drum Brake, Clip In Emergency Brake Cable Adapter
Pre 1984 Squarebody Chevrolet drum brake backing plates used a bolt in style emergency brake cable assembly. If your brake backing plate has the holes as shown in pic 2, you have the backing plate that would typically accept the bolt in style emergency brake cable. 1984 and newer backing plates switched to a clip in style emergency brake cable assembly (Pic 3). If you plan to swap pre 1984 drum brakes (or a complete differential) into a 1984-87 (88-91 k5/suburban) and wish to retain e-brake functionality, this adapter will allow you to do just that.
Note: If swapping from a ½ ton differential to ¾ ton/1ton differential, you will need to also change the rear section of the passenger and driver, e-brake cables. See recommended cable lengths and PNs for them below.
½ ton to ¾ ton swap, recommended e-brake cables/lengths
Passenger side: AC Delco 18P428, length 78 ¼”
Driver side: Dorman C93253, length 55 ¼”
Yes, another route to retaining e-brake functionality could be to switch the e-brake cable assembly to the 73-83 style but this would require replacing every e-brake cable component between the e-brake pedal and the brake backing plate. If available, brake backing plates could also be swapped. To avoid replacing all of the e-brake cable components or if different backing plates are not available, our e-brake cable adapter is what you need.
- Adapters delivered in bare steel
- Sold as a set of two
- Corrosion resistant hardware included
ADDITIONAL PRODUCT INFO
A question we often get is “why not just do a disc brake conversion?” Our answer to this comes in a couple of different points and are as follows. 14 bolt FF disc brake swaps commonly use Cadillac, Eldorado brake calipers with an integrated parking brake.
- These car brakes will in no way be able to match the braking power of ¾ and 1 ton truck, drum brakes.
- The integrated parking brake of the eldorado brake calipers will be marginal at best when compared to the parking brake strength afforded by the stock drum brakes found on a 14 bolt FF differential.
Yes, there are cases where a disc brake conversion could be appropriate such as in a rock crawler where weight savings is important or if anticipating heavy mud, which doesn’t mix well with drum brakes. However, if the goal is more of a daily driver that you can haul/pull heavy loads with, we’d recommend retaining the drum brake setup. In other words, select the right tool for the right job.
RETURN & REFUND POLICY
If this product does not meet your needs, you can return it for a full refund