On my 1988 F-250 the emergency/parking brake no longer catches when depressing the foot pedal. I have dislocated the ratchet mechanism to examine what the problem is, but it is still attached to the cable housing. I need to slide the cable housing enough to get the cable head out of the housing but it is held to the frame by being embedded in a thick foam rubber kind of sleeve that will not move in the frame. See photo.
Am I going about this wrong or is there some other way to unhook the cable other than moving this foam rubber thing?
Thanks.

 

1) You have drum or disc on the rear?
2) Check my signature below. Additionally the 8th character of your VIN.

 

If what you are trying to say is the pedal goes all the way down , but does not apply the parking brake., put it all back together and go to a place like NAPA or your choice, and ask for the cable slack take up part. The cable is very likely stretched and if you install the part on the cable from under the vehicle, it shortens the cable and solves the problem. Cheap fix and quick and safe.
It puts a bend in the cable and makes it shorter.

 

1) The rear brakes are drums.
2) I am new to this forum and dont understand what checking you signature means. Also, what is the significance of the 8th character?

 

I talked to someone at NAPA and before buying the cable tightening tool, I was advised to reinstall the pedal bracket and test if the brake holds when the pedal is depressed even though it does not lock. If it holds this would indicate the cable is not stretched and the problem is in the ratchet locking mechanism. If it does not hold then the problem is more likely a stretched cable. I can see the teeth on the ratchet gear and the look fine, however I cannot see the pawl to see if it is worn without removing the bracket.

 

Sometimes you can see the hard to get at parts with a small mirror and flashlight.

Beats trying to squirm around and can't see anything .

 

If you are new just follow instructions, specifically my signature already mentioned what you need to provide to ask a question. When it comes to ford, you need more than just 1988 and F-250, you need to provide the engine size in liter. Just on yours a V8 can be 5.0L, 5.8L, 7.5L and 7.3L Diesel.
Look below, OK button is not clickable, can't continue to provide instructions and diagrams. Same can be said if you buy a car part online or at autozone, you'd be asked the same thing.

 

That cable casing that goes through the floor usually goes under the driver's side to the cable that controls both rear brake assys.

There is a connection at that junction that you can undo and now the cable assy going into the vehicle can be removed enough to see the pawl.