Parking Brake Cables Discontinued

Handling, suspension, and brake tuning discussions
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trystero777
Posts: 21
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 6:30 am

Parking Brake Cables Discontinued

Post by trystero777 »

I had to replace my L & R rear parking brake cables for a 2003 GT FWD. Pontiac has discontinued the part and there's no cross reference to the Toyota part #. Luckily my mechanic got the (pissed off) Toyota guy to keep sending cables till we got the right one. Anyone else encounter this problem? If you haven't yet - you will someday. Are there other "canceled" parts out there?
2003 Vibe GTMoon & TunePrevious cars:'88 Mazda 323 (42mpg!)'71 Dodge Dart Swinger
Blueridge9
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Re: Parking Brake Cables Discontinued (trystero777)

Post by Blueridge9 »

Wow, that is bad news! Thanks for the warning. Which Toyota parking brake cable ended up working for your 2003?
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tribalman
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Re: Parking Brake Cables Discontinued (trystero777)

Post by tribalman »

Quote, originally posted by trystero777 »I had to replace my L & R rear parking brake cables for a 2003 GT FWD. Pontiac has discontinued the part and there's no cross reference to the Toyota part #. Luckily my mechanic got the (pissed off) Toyota guy to keep sending cables till we got the right one. Anyone else encounter this problem? If you haven't yet - you will someday. Are there other "canceled" parts out there?shouldn't have had to do that, government requires parts to be carried for 10 years. interesting.....
None. Vibe is gone.
trystero777
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Re: Parking Brake Cables Discontinued (tribalman)

Post by trystero777 »

I'm afraid I don't know which brake cables finally worked.I used to think there was some kind of law about 10 years on parts. from what I googled that appears not to be true. they can stop making parts the day after you buy it, I think.
2003 Vibe GTMoon & TunePrevious cars:'88 Mazda 323 (42mpg!)'71 Dodge Dart Swinger
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jkm311
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Re: Parking Brake Cables Discontinued (trystero777)

Post by jkm311 »

My feeling is, if they're going to guarantee work through their warranties, the last day they supply a part should be relative to the last Vibe ever sold's manufacturer date. Meaning, after the last "new" 2010 was built, mark that day as when they need to keep making parts for however long the warranty is good for (8 yr./80,000 miles on critical parts, right?)Say the last one ever built was on December 1, 2009. Parts should be available to order until December 1, 2017.I could see them chalking the e-brake cables up to wear and tear, and letting us fend for ourselves, which seems to be what 777 went through above.
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billynaylor
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Joined: Tue May 31, 2016 3:53 pm

Re: Parking Brake Cables Discontinued

Post by billynaylor »

Hello, I joined thus forum specifically to let the people on this thread concerned about discontinued brake cables , know there may be a fix. I own a 2003 pontiac vibe gt. While looking for parking brake cables I came across this forum. I also located the cables in ebay. The cables came from a site called Partsmonkey.com. The cables were made by a company named ABSCO. Although I have not crawled under the car to attempt to install them, they appear to be a match. Numbers on the boxes are as follows:left-25205 and right_25206. I caution you that these may not be the correct ones for you and still may not fit my application but, after much research, they sure look promising. Oh, by the way, they are stainless steel and may seem a little pricey to some. Good luck
lannvouivre
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Re: Parking Brake Cables Discontinued

Post by lannvouivre »

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Speedwoble
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Re: Parking Brake Cables Discontinued

Post by Speedwoble »

2004 GT with 130K miles that was previously owned in NW Pa and has been ravaged by salt. I just had the pleasure of doing parking brake cable replacement this weekend. The Right cable for the GT is available under the Toyota Matrix XRS listing, but I could not find the Left cable. I gambled and ordered the Left cable for a standard and found that the outer housing was a direct replacement, but the cable itself had an end that was too large, and the inner cable was too long. My factory cable was so shot that I had to cut it to remove it, so I could not directly compare the 2.

The Raybestos BC96198 for the XRS Right Rear bolted up, but was larger in diameter and had different mounting styles. This can be seen from the image on Rockauto. I bent off and re-used the clamp that attaches the cable to the torsion axle.

The Raybestos BC96964 for the Standard Left rear bolted up fine, but the cable end that fit into the parking brake lever at the wheel was too large, and hexagonal instead of round. I used a bench grinder to carefully grind it down and to a round shape. After installing and adjusting the parking brake preload in the drums, the bar above the cat was heavily inclined towards the Right side meaning the Left cable was too long, by I estimate 1-1.5". I measured the cable diameter and used my lathe to drill a 3/32 hole through a 1/2" long piece of 5/16 rod(Actually part of a 5/16 bolt shank). I cut the inner cable shorter, then used an industrial cable crimping tool to crimp the rod onto the cable. It felt secure, but used a little silver solder on the end to be sure.

Now I have parking brakes again! FWIW, I was able to do the job on jack stands in my driveway without removing the catalytic converter. I did remove my heatshield and bent it slightly to get it out and back in.

I would be willing to modify Left cables if anyone else needs them.
zbyers
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Re: Parking Brake Cables Discontinued

Post by zbyers »

The Raybestos part numbers I purchased, that fit perfectly, were BC96676 and BC96677. Both of which are still available via RockAuto (or Amazon). They are not listed under the Vibe or Matrix, but the part # does bring them up if you use the part # search.

I wouldn't be surprised if the cables were the same for the 99-06? Celica. and the Corolla XRS (I think that was 05-06 only).
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Speedwoble
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Re: Parking Brake Cables Discontinued

Post by Speedwoble »

zbyers wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:00 am The Raybestos part numbers I purchased, that fit perfectly, were BC96676 and BC96677. Both of which are still available via RockAuto (or Amazon). They are not listed under the Vibe or Matrix, but the part # does bring them up if you use the part # search.
Hmm, great info! Wish I had been able to find those part numbers a couple weeks ago!
zbyers
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Re: Parking Brake Cables Discontinued

Post by zbyers »

Speedwoble wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:08 am
zbyers wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:00 am The Raybestos part numbers I purchased, that fit perfectly, were BC96676 and BC96677. Both of which are still available via RockAuto (or Amazon). They are not listed under the Vibe or Matrix, but the part # does bring them up if you use the part # search.
Hmm, great info! Wish I had been able to find those part numbers a couple weeks ago!
I had to go into my 3 year old rock auto history to find 'em.
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speedygt
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Joined: Fri Apr 19, 2019 5:28 pm

Re: Parking Brake Cables Discontinued

Post by speedygt »

Absco a Canadian company located in Quebec manufactures parking brake cables. absco.ca High quality stainless steel.They have a complete online catalog.
I just purchased a set through PartsAvatar.ca for my 2003 Vibe GT. Right 25206 (oe 4642012550) Left 25205 (oe 4643012450) Less than $90 Canadian for both.
They were in stock and arrived for pickup in 4 days.
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