I'm sorry I know this has probably been posted a few times, but I still can't seem to get it all straight. I have a 1988 Pontiac Firebird Formula 5 speed with rear disc brakes, and the parking brake cables are gone. I have ordered replacement cables from napa but I'm not sure if they are correct.
I have http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Det...132_0297079673
for the front part number 93132
and http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Det...+50060+2060012
for both rear part number 93482

It looks like the front will fit in the parking brake handle, but it all seems pretty short.

I still need a threaded equalizer, hopefully I will pick that up from a yard today...

Does this sound like it'll work for my car?

 

Hey, NY,

Welcome to TGO.

Your 88 should already have the tunnel-mounted adjuster in place.

JamesC

 

Thank for the quick response.

So basically there should already be an equalizer like thing mounted on there and I just need to climb under and find it. =-)

I will give it a try today.

-Alex

 

It should be there and once the car is in the air it should take you an hour to replace all the lines. the front one was a pain tho for me as you have to take apart the center console to do it. And when you feed it thru the rubber gromet is a pain to get the old one off and new one in

 

Above the front portion of the drive shaft. Pic below (I'd bet the front cable is there):

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/atta...e-adjuster.jpg

JamesC

 

Wow you guys are the best. Well I already have the center console off.. I'll take a couple pictures as I go for everyone else like me. I feel so dumb that I spent so much time looking online for a new equalizer that doesn't exist.

 

I finally got to look under the car... unfortunately the actual mounted equalizer part is missing. Most of it is there, but the piece in the middle that hooks everything together is not there. Does anyone know where I can get one?

 

To anyone else with a 88 firebird do not get napa 93482 for the rear cables... It is way to short.
http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Det...+50060+2060012

I was able to get a custom made equalizer out of a junk yard, it looks like it should work just fine... I post agian when I get the right cables, and I'll take some pictures of the equalizer I got.

 

So it turns out to be more confusing than I originally thought. The driver side rear caliper appears to be iron... and the passenger side rear caliper appears to be aluminum... On the iron one I could hook up the cable mentioned above that was too short, but the big spring on the caliper that the parking brake cable goes through appears to be missing. On the aluminum side I do not see anything that looks like I could hook the parking brake to, or any mechanism that any parking brake would go on.

So I'm not really sure what to do... Do I need the spring on the iron caliper? Should I upgrade them both to aluminum calipers? Is it possible I just can't find the place to attach the parking brake cable on the aluminum caliper, or do some just not have one? Can I even get a replacement spring for the iron caliper?

Either way it looks like I'm most likely going to need to buy 2 rear calipers... From reading around it sounds like the aluminum (pbr?) calipers are supposed to be better. If I go with the aluminum ones, will that be compatable with the rest of the parking brake cables / equalizer I have?

Thanks
-Alex

 

I'm unsure of what kind of cobbled up mess you have. The following links shows the PBR upgrades along with part numbers and so on:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/faq-...iscs-89-a.html

JamesC

 

I have iron ones and they do need springs and the parking brake cables go thru the springs on each side. I suggest posting some pics so we all better understand you and can give you a hand in the right direction as from what I know the backing plates are different for either the iron ones or the PBR ones

 

I've been doing some more reading... I haven't gotten a chance to take more pictures yet... Its been kind of cold.

So I believe I have a 9 bolt... since its an 88. Now since I need a different backing plate for the pbr, does the replacing the backing plate require removing the axel? It looks like that so far from what I've read, if thats the case can someone point me in the right direction please?

Thanks!
-Alex

 

If you are to replace the backing plate then yes you have to remove the axels if i remember correctly. If you post pics of everything you have then it would make it alot easier for us to help you as so far this thread started out by replacing the parking brake cables and equalizer to now redoing everything including the brakes.

 

So... It looks like someone hit me with an idiot stick. Let me share what I've learned, and reiterate what all of you probably already know.

The J65 Delco-Moraine calipers are facing opposite sides. The top of the rear driver's side caliper faces the back of the car, and the top of the rear driver's side caliper faces the front of the car. I mistook this as the passenger side having a different caliper than the driverside. (I didn't take off the wheel I just looked under the car.) So maybe its not a huge cobbled up mess. =-)

This means that the parking brake cables from one side to the other must need to be different lengths.

When I went to napa they said that they only carry 1 model for the rear parking brake cable, which is the 48.25" cable linked to at the top of the page. This is listed on their website as the right rear cable, whereas in the store it is listed as both rear cables.

The website also has a left rear cable http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Det...084_0283098515
part number 93084.

It is 65.31" long. This should be the correct cable for the driver side and the 48.25" cable should be correct for the passenger side.

I am just going to confirm this revelation tomorrow and order the cables and new iron calipers. Doing the switch to PBR right now seems a bit too much for me atm, maybe another day.

Thank you for all the help and info, I will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

-Alex

 

If you have no luck with the cables let me know as I picked up a parts car the other day and Im not 100% sure but if I remember correctly it has the iron calipers on it and the parking brake did work. Yeah Id like to do the PBR set up but i also want a 4th gen rear so I get both when I find a 4th gen rear end.