Identification of F15 2WD?

[Grant Bowker]

The ball ends are swaged to the cable.
The process is described at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp0skdRW_TI
The machines are made by https://loosnaples.com/swaging-machi...oloc-m1-type-i and are not cheap!
My experience when getting C01Q 2275B cables shortened to closely resemble C01Q 2275A cables was that there are limited service providers, but they do exist. One source is through Aircraft Spruce https://www.aircraftspruce.ca/catalo.../cableassy.php You will be asking them to swage a SA110-5 ball onto a customer supplied cable assembly after shortening the cable. The wire cable is 5/32" 1x19 stranding. They prefer to cut the cable in order to ensure against damage in shipping. I believe the actual work is performed by ACS Products http://acsproducts.co/ It ended up costing me nearly C$150 to shorten the 2 cables (including shipping both ways, about 50% of the total) - not cheap, but a bargain compared to the machinery to do it myself.

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Grant,

Great information! I bet Flexible Drive here in Australia would have the equipment to do the swaging so perhaps that could be a solution to Tony's predicament. Will keep it mind too if I ever break a cable.

Cheers,

[Ganmain Tony]

Thanks Jacques and Grant ... again. Really useful help.

I rang Flexible Drive, got a bloke in Sydney by the name of Milad. Apparently they have 5 stores around Oz.

Quoting of the job gets done by him then if I say OK, it'll get sent to Melbourne for the work to be done, then sent back to me.

Might stick with what I'm doing at the moment unless someone tells me they have used them and they are the go.

Big relief to have options though.

[Ganmain Tony]

Just got a reply from Stefan Leegwater to the hand brake question.

Cables he has for F15 are 45.5 inches long.

Outer conduit is 33 inches long.

In line with what you were saying Jacques. 12.5" difference.

Very useful info.

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Tony,

I like the 12-1/2" difference but not so sure about the 33" conduit length.

I just put a tape measure on my F15-A parts truck. 33" is almost the direct line distance from the backing plates to the conduit bracket at the crossmember.

A 33" conduit may just fit when the vehicle is static, however if the spring extends downward as in traveling over uneven ground the distance from the backing plate to the conduit bracket will lengthen considerably. This could put an excessive strain on the conduit bracket to the point it bends or breaks or even rips the cable.

Unless I have missed something different between the F15 and F15-A handbrake cables I would still be looking for conduits closer to 40" long for the above reason.

Cheers,

[David Herbert]

An F15 does sit lower than a F15A but that wouldn't account for 7" difference.

David

[Jacques Reed]

Hi David and Tony,

I looked at the rear suspension of both models and the F15 and F15-A both use the same rear springs according to the maintenance manual. That is 45" long, 2.5" wide, and 10 leaves each. Would have thought the vertical distance from the chassis to the rear axle would be much the same. Are the spring perches at different heights? If they are, it solves a 20 year old mystery for me too. My dodgied up F15-A from a F15 had the rear spring perches bolted on and not riveted. As a newbie 20 years ago I didn't give it much thought and figured it was a wartime expediency. They could have, however, been replacements for the F15 spring perches to make it look like a F15-A. It would also account why they dropped the equalized down 6" on a bracket if they tried to use the shorter (33"?) handbrake cables originally on the F15 chassis.

I have one idea that perhaps the F15 being 2WD was never intended to see much off-road service so a shorter cable would be enough for highway use where there is less suspension travel.

I also realize the cab chassis I am taking my measurements from would sit lower to the ground with a heavy rear body on it so that would reduce the length required. Even without a body, however, there is plenty of slack in F15-A cables as shown in my earlier photos.

Maybe 33" is the correct length after all?

Cheers,