Hey folks, long time reader but never needed to post.

Long story short, i had to replace rear end and in the process realized my ebrake cables are toast. I cant afford new ones for a few days and am wondering if i can re-assemble the brakes without the cable and retention spring for the time being.

1994 Ram 2500 5.9 v8 gas 4x4 dana 70 rear with drums.

 

Manual trans?

Yes, you can leave off the e-brake cables, no problem.

 

Oops no auto so can be parked somewhat safely still. Ya i can see any reason it would mess things up. Plenty of tension.against the mechanism so it wouldnt be flopping around.

Just wanted to see if anyone else has had issues. Thank you!

 

Sorry but having some issues. Should the parking brake strut anti vibe spring be oriented forward and up or down or backwards up/down?

pics show how it was. It seems to fit better with the spring facing down on the squared off end.

 

The shop manual isnt helping.

In one pic it shows the spring on round end away from ebrake lever.

In the other it shows it on the squared end with ebrake lever behind it.

 

Erm, Semi-floating axle?? On a 2500???? Is that a light duty 2500? What is GVWR on your truck?

 

He said he put in another rear,
What is the GVWR of your truck? There are two different versions of the 2500's. That looks like the light duty rear. Also what it s the brake diameter? The breakdowns show the different ones by the diameter. Also there is the adjusting lever and the park brake lever where the cable attaches to(don't see it in the pics you provided).

 

yea the door sticker is a 7500 but has the diffs from an 8800. Both lever and adjuster are in the brakes. Lol

Truck is a 94 which is a split year. Some good, some bad. Axles are from a '97 and engine a '98. Not many bolts i havent turned on it.

Had to limp it back over the rockies some 540km with the rear blown out because i couldnt fimd one where i broke down.

Unfortunately ether the high rpm for hours or the heat took out a bunch of electrical. Fuel pump circuit currently bypassed. Had to get new starter. Brakes lights not working. Probably going through wiring this week.

 

Wow, that's pretty tweaked.

One thing though, so far as I know, ALL of the 8800 GVWR rears were full floaters..... The only semi-floaters were the light duty 3/4 tons, with the 9.25 corporate axle, with the eight lug axles.

 

All of my reading says the same. Had to put in new perches and everything to get the wider springs that match the dana 70.

The funniest (and potentially most useful) tweak is my egr circuit. 94 had egr, 98 did not. An LED rear tail light now sits on my bay, wired into egr to prevent CEL from coming on (usually... front wheel drive over the hills got it on a couple times).