[Have you ever been typing a posting, hit a key and the post disappears. It just happened to me. Of course, once its gone my recollection is that it was the most eloquent post I ever put together and I'm distraught that it just disappeared. Well, here goes, again.]

The most frustrating part of the e brake job, shoes or cable is replacing the long spring in the slot. I've managed to do it many times, but never quickly or easily. The spring strut I hold with my pliers slips and slips and slips. Perhaps, I'd so better with a vice grip, but then it would be hard to push the hook out of the plier's grip to get it to feed into the slot.

I've spent a lot of wasted time on this part of the job. I usually bend the hook slight open, which eases the process a little, just a little. I do worry about the effect on the metal.

I find the expander mechanism is often rusted stuck. And of course this is much more likely when the cable is broken and the expander has been dormant. This is an example of where constant use is better than non-use, which is often the case for machinery. I was taught to use the e brake on all occasions, and I do. My wife does not use the e brake, relying on the compression in the engine to secure the car in most instances. I think that is a mistake and with a little encouragement from the "board" I'd be inclined to gently tell her so.

Bob Franklin

Try the long nosed vicegrips and lock it to the hook end of the spring. You can pull hard enough to stretch the spring w/o slipping but don't pull that hard.

"My wife does not use the e brake, relying on the compression in the engine to secure the car in most instances." So you have stick shift 9-series cars? On an automatic, the park pawl holds the car from rolling.

Mike