Scout II Rear Emergency Brake Cable Replacement

My Summer Scout (1979 Scout II Terra) has lower gearing (3.73 versus 3.09) than my Winter Scout  (1979 Scout II). The Summer Scout also has a T-19 manual transmission and a tow hitch to tow my 1971 19′ Fiberform boat. To lauch a boat it is helpful to have a working emergency brake so that you don’t end up in the river. My rear brake cable broke a number of years ago, so it is finally time to replace it. The first step in brake cable replacement is to remove the rear wheels, and disassemble the rear shoe assembly. Scout II rear brake shoesIf you have a standard Scout II  you will need a shorter cable than the one that I used. There are probably some skilled mechanics who can thread one of these cables without removing the shoes, but I had a rusty old cable stuck to the backing plate and it seemed easier to make some space. Once the shoes were removed, the old cable was exposed. There is a brake cable tool that will compress the backing plate catching fitting to allow for the cable to be removed from the plate. I did not have one of these tools so I had to twist the cable a bit while pressing the fitting through the backing plate with a flathead screwdriver.

Scout II rear emergency brake cable

Scout II backing plate with brake cable exposed

With the old cable removed the new cable snaps right into place. Make sure that you thread the cable OVER your leaf spring on the way to the cable routing guides. The first time that I installed one of these cables I had to do some rework because I screwed this part up.

scout ii brake cable routing

Route the cable over the leaf spring and through the cable router

The last step is to adjust the cable at the adjusting nut where the rear cable is connected to the front cable. I found that my old cable had stretched a bit and had to be adjusted down the stud on the front cable to keep the rear wheels turning. The rear cable passes below the front cable in the adjuster bracket. Scout II parking brake adjuster

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