You can adjust your Ford F-series pickup parking brakes at home to remove slack from the parking brake cables and save yourself time and money. Purchase a cable tension gauge to help you gain the right tension for your parking brake cables. Use this technique on your 1997 and 1998 Ford F-series F-250.
Instructions
- 1
Press in on the parking brake pedal to the lowest position towards the floor. Raise your Ford F-series rear wheels in the air using a jack and support the back wheels using jack stands.
2Get underneath your Ford F-series and hold the threaded rod of the parking brake cable adjustment to prevent it from spinning. Use your pliers to tighten the equalizer nut six full turns past the original position on the parking brake cable rod. Locate the cable rod in the middle of the vehicle with the parking brake cables coming towards it from each rear wheel.
3Use your cable tension gauge to measure the right tension. Attach the rear tension cable and measure the pounds of tension. Set your Ford F-series cable tension at 350 pounds of tension.
4Release the parking brake pedal and make sure the rear wheels spin freely.
5Adjust the clearance between the parking brake lever and the cam plate if there is resistance with the rear wheels. Adjust the clearance to 0.38mm at the parking brake equalizer adjusting nut.
6Lower your Ford F-series using your jack and remove the jack stands from the rear wheels.
