How strong is a hand swaged aluminum cable stop?

[dbeardslee]

Long story short - I need to shorten an e-brake cable on my Jeep, and I was thinking of cutting it down and hand swaging a new cable stop. The cable I have has a swaged cable stop on it, but who knows how much pressure was used to install it, and I'm limited to what I can do with a 24" hand swager.

So does anybody have any idea how strong a hand swaged cable stop on a 1/8" steel cable is? It needs to withstand the pull of the emergency brake handle without slipping off the end, and this e-brake requires pretty much force for it to work.

[dbeardslee]

Maybe this will help. This shows the cables I'm diddling with - labeled "rear cables." Problem is one has about 2" more cable going to the equalizer, which gets the equalizer crooked, and it's not applying the same force to each cable. My thinking is to cut the longer cable and crimp a new cable stop that's more even with the other cable. But will a hand crimped cable stop take the force?

[3Phase]

Before I bought a hydraulic crimping tool I'd squash the new cable stop in place, then hit it with a propane torch and solder it.

But like I said, now I have a hydraulic crimping tool so I'd crimp the new cable stop in place, then hit it with a propane torch and solder it.

[dbeardslee]

Before I bought a hydraulic crimping tool I'd squash the new cable stop in place, then hit it with a propane torch and solder it.

But like I said, now I have a hydraulic crimping tool so I'd crimp the new cable stop in place, then hit it with a propane torch and solder it.

Can you solder aluminum to steel?

[dbeardslee]

Or how 'bout this. What if I crimped several stops butted up against each other? It would be stronger, right?

[motoman]

Can you solder aluminum to steel?

Nope........but this case is steel to steel.

[dbeardslee]

Nope........but this case is steel to steel.

No, it's aluminum to steel. The cable stop is made out of aluminum and the cable is made out of steel. So it would seem soldering is not an option. Which brings me back to crimping multiple stops instead of just one. Got any thoughts on that?

[Rasputin]

You have to unwind the cable ends as best you can, then bend them over about 90 degrees or more and then pour the solder or babbit into the space you have. I have pulled thousands of pounds in the oilfield doing that exact thing.

[dbeardslee]

You have to unwind the cable ends as best you can, then bend them over about 90 degrees or more and then pour the solder or babbit into the space you have. I have pulled thousands of pounds in the oilfield doing that exact thing.

I'm not sure I'm following you. If I'm hearing you right, you've got the stop swaged onto the cable, with some excess cable past the stop. Unwind and bend those cables out, and apply the solder to the center of the cable? Kind of creating a door-stop effect. Course the next problem is that the cable is on the vehicle, and I don't really want to completely disassemble the brake again to get the cable loose. It would be pretty tough to solder it where it is.

What are your thoughts on crimping multiple stops on the cable? It doesn't have to withstand thousands of pounds. Probably more like 100-200 pounds (not sure what kind of mechanical advantage I get at the brake handle, but I seriously doubt it's more than 200 pounds on the cable.)

[3Phase]

If it's clean and dry you can solder darn near anything to anything. Well, except plastic but that'll work too if you melt it just right.

The important part is the clean and the dry and if you don't have any 50/50 solder with a bottle of acid flux, get one of those micro aluminum welding kits with the torch, flux and wire/rod.


Or drill a hole in a bolt to put the cable through and cinch it down between a couple of washers. It's not going to need to support the weight of the Jeep, just set and hold the brake, right? Snip and solder-seal the steel ends so you don't hurt yourself later and go find something else to do like ride your motorcycle.

[dbeardslee]

If it's clean and dry you can solder darn near anything to anything. Well, except plastic but that'll work too if you melt it just right.

The important part is the clean and the dry and if you don't have any 50/50 solder with a bottle of acid flux, get one of those micro aluminum welding kits with the torch, flux and wire/rod.


Or drill a hole in a bolt to put the cable through and cinch it down between a couple of washers. It's not going to need to support the weight of the Jeep, just set and hold the brake, right? Snip and solder-seal the steel ends so you don't hurt yourself later and go find something else to do like ride your motorcycle.

After Rasputin's post, I think I'm getting a mental handle on it. You're actually soldering the wires of the cable together and creating a plug that won't fit through the hole in the stop. Kind of a stop for the stop kind of deal. Right?

[dbeardslee]

Or drill a hole in a bolt to put the cable through and cinch it down between a couple of washers.

I'm going to keep this one in mind - JIC. I could do it this way, but I'd have to have the equalizer on the cable before I put the bolt in place. Sounds vaguely like one of those jobs that require three hands.

[3Phase]

I'm going to keep this one in mind - JIC. I could do it this way, but I'd have to have the equalizer on the cable before I put the bolt in place. Sounds vaguely like one of those jobs that require three hands.

Nah! Vice grips, my good man! Vice grips! You run the cable through the EQ, then grasp it ever so gently with your finest set of needle-nose vice grips so it can't pull back.

Thread the cable through the hole in the bolt, clamp it between the washers, then trim the sharp ends with a precision angle grinder and solder it to keep it safe. Acid core plumbers solder works great for sealing steel cables squished between steel washers and steel bolts so they don't rust too, it's not just for sweating copper pipes.

And yes you can solder the cable to make a cable/solder plug for the aluminum cable stop. You'd have to drill through the stop, then push the cable through the hole and solder the strands so they can't pull back through.

[dbeardslee]

Nah! Vice grips, my good man! Vice grips! You run the cable through the EQ, then grasp it ever so gently with your finest set of needle-nose vice grips so it can't pull back.

Thread the cable through the hole in the bolt, clamp it between the washers, then trim the sharp ends with a precision angle grinder and solder it to keep it safe. Acid core plumbers solder works great for sealing steel cables squished between steel washers and steel bolts so they don't rust too, it's not just for sweating copper pipes.

And yes you can solder the cable to make a cable/solder plug for the aluminum cable stop. You'd have to drill through the stop, then push the cable through the hole and solder the strands so they can't pull back through.

I'm going to give the bolt thing a try tomorrow. Seems like it would get the best bite on the cable of my available options. I'm a little limited in space, and the bolt I've got picked out is like a 7 or 8mm - a little bigger than 1/4". The cable is 3/32nds, and will probably require an 1/8" hole. I'm wondering if there will still be enough of the bolt left where the hole is to be strong enough to put some torque on it. One way to find out...

[3Phase]

I'm going to give the bolt thing a try tomorrow. Seems like it would get the best bite on the cable of my available options. I'm a little limited in space, and the bolt I've got picked out is like a 7 or 8mm - a little bigger than 1/4". The cable is 3/32nds, and will probably require an 1/8" hole. I'm wondering if there will still be enough of the bolt left where the hole is to be strong enough to put some torque on it. One way to find out...

Okay, important safety tip: Do not rock crawl your Jeep to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls to test the new emergency brake cable end to see if it holds but for almost anything short of hanging it from a tree and winching it up the trunk to make a tree fort out of it you should be fine.