Do I have a broken leg/hook on my parking brake adjuster? The two "catches" that tie into the frame are not the same length. When I applied the parking brake this week, the cable went slack and i found the adjuster had fallen out of its rightful place in the frame. My question is: are the two parts that tie into the frame originally two different lengths from the factory or did one of the "catches" on my vehicle break off? Thank you.

You can see in the foto how the top "catch/hook" is a different length (much shorter) than the lower catch in the foto.

 

Based on mine there's only one 'hook' that catches on the frame. Yours looks to be bent, which allowed it to open up and then fall out from the frame hole.

If I'm right I would say you have other parking brake cable issues elsewhere that's causing too much tension on the adjuster bracket. I would check your rear cables to make sure they're free. When was the last time you lubricated or checked your brake cables, especially the rear ones?

Too much foot torque will bend that bracket if the cables at the rear are frozen or binding.

Steve

 

Thank for a quick response.

I just replaced the foot pedal mechanism with a better wrecking yard piece (the old one was releasing itself without any warning!), replaced the primary cable that connects to the pedal with an NOS cable I found online (it snapped), and I thought I lubed everything else up at the same time). But I will check for binding anyway.

I only wish that someone with a '96 Dakota four-wheel drive could shoot me off a foto of what the factory piece looks like when it is in good condition. I will probably scout the wrecking yards next, but Dakotas like mine are a little hard to find. Actually, Dad purchased this one (special order) from the dealer, now has 280,000 miles. It is a 3.9 liter 5-speed.

 

I'm in the rust belt so mine was rusted to ****. I just rigged up something using a threaded rod and the original cable guide piece, then attached through the side of the rail and secured with a big washer and nylock nut.

Looks like you live in a non rusty place so you'll find a good one at a yard.

 

Today I found a similar piece at a local wrecking yard from a '95 Dakota Club Cab two-wheel drive (mine is standard cab four-wheel drive). The piece I picked up is too long, but at least I can see now how the hooks on my old piece have been pulled out straight and that's why it falls out (not being secured by the bent hooks). I did find a part number #52007081 but I have been unable to find a foto of such part number, so no way (for now) to know if it would fit my vehicle.

 

There is only one 'hook' and that's at the long end of each of these tensioners, the other 'hook' that you see is just a thing, it doesn't fit into any hole in the frame, only the long one. You can tell that the shorter rod / hookish type thing doesn't actually do anything because it's pointed in the wrong direction when the large hook is fitted in place properly.

The 4x2 is different from the 4x4, 52007081 is for 4x4 and 52007082 is for 4x2.

Is there a reason you don't just bend yours back like the 4x2 one and see if it will hold? I would bend it into a very tight hook, tighter than the 4x2 one, and see if that doesn't stay where it should.

Steve

 

 

Pfft, that's still perfectly usable! :-)

Steve

 

Ha, ya totally good. Just need some oil lol

Here is a picture from the FSM for 4wd parking brake adjuster

EDIT: and Steve is totally right on with the part numbers. You can see the difference between the two part numbers in the part diagrams online.

 

Thanks guys, The reason I don't bend it back is because I don't believe it will be as strong as before due to metal fatigue and I am a little paranoid about it rolling down a hill if it acts up again. I could try to reinforce it. Even leaving the transmission in a forward gear while stopped/parked it starts to inch down my driveway little by little. It seems leaving it in reverse holds a little better but still don't want to take any chances. The bottom line is we have had this vehicle since new and I am willing to spend a little cash on NOS parts to keep it original, especially when the aftermarket supplies inferior parts. Today I will try to order the above mentioned part number from an online source, the local dealership yesterday, of course, told me the part was no longer available.

Oh, one more comment, on my vehicle that second smaller little hook might be pointed in the "wrong" direction for a reason. It looks like it may tie into the edge of the cross frame (not in a hole) to help stabilize the whole thing.

I see online @ moparpartsgiant that 081 fits "option N5" and 082 fits "option N1", but I had no luck finding a translation for those "options" anywhere.