Emergency Brake Cable Repair 2003 Dodge Dakota

In this video I replace the emergency brake adjuster (or tensioner) and the intermediate length of emergency brake cable in my 2003 Dodge Dakota. I also replaced the cable connectors because of course!

This job wasn't difficult, but finding parts was a bit of a challenge. None of the auto parts stores even had listings for the tensioner let alone had any in stock. It was the same on line. I could find tensioners for other model trucks but not mine. I did not bother going to the dealer because I refuse to pay whatever ridiculous price they would charge for such a simple part. Instead I found a tensioner for a 2003 Ram 1500 which looked VERY similar to the one I needed. The only notable difference was that the Dakota tensioner has a slotted cable connection on one end where the Ram part just has a big hole. To solve this, I bought a pack of emergency brake cable connectors which had an assortment of different connectors in it. To connect the cable to the Ram tensioner, I put the end of the cable through the hole then attached one of my aftermarket connectors to retain it. As an added safety measure, I then wrapped the end in duct tape to ensure that the connector can't disengage.

The rest of the job was pretty straight forward. The connectors are pretty simple to use, although they can be a bit tight, and will probably require some tapping with your pliers to get together. (You'll see what I mean in the video!) Hope this is helpful. Thanks for watching!

[GroovyCoolio]

Suggestion: Instead of duct tape that likely will fail with water, oil etc. from road conditions, maybe use a stainless steel hose clamp.

[bradfordjones]

Thanks for the great video. One question though, as I'm stuck, how do you get enough slack in the cable to take off the tensioner and the cable joiner piece?
Thanks again.

[biggerchris]

Yo great video!! Step by step instructions, good video capturing, nice mock up, good job. Now I feel armed to tackle mine.

[andymoyer]

Thanks for doing this, really helped me with the same job on my 03 Dakota.

[technoir]

Was your emergency brake light indicator on the cluster always on before you replaced the cables? I have a 97 Dakota 4x4 with rear ABS only that I can't figure out why the brake light indicator stays on. My e brake does work, but not properly. Only the driver's side wheel locks. I have replaced the shoes wheel cylinder and pretty much the whole assembly on both sides and bled the entire system multiple times and the damn light won't go away. I even cut the wire that comes off the E-brake pedal to see if the light would go off and that didn't work. Being a 97 it does not have an ABS control module to get an error code. That damn light is driving me nuts. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[bananaxfmj]

Anyone know where I can get the connector adapters?

[oldguy]

Good job, , , Just wondering about using a couple of cable ties in place of the duck tape, , , Beat Regards

[ryonpratt]

Thanks for this video Clay. Huge help. My 02 Durango e-brake tensioner bracket broke. No new replacement available. What year Ram 1500 should I use to find the one in your video. Thanks very much.

[naughtydog]

I ran the cable all the way up into my cab, the full replacement, however i cut the cable that when to the brake line and my pedal went to the floor and the cable holders up really high. and i have a lot of slack. whats the way to bring it down?

[houptee]

Thanks for this video! I have a 1999 Dakota and the tensioner and most cables are discontinued by Dodge. I found the cables are available from Dorman and some other brands but nobody has the exact tensioner. This is a great hack you came up with to use the universal connectors for the cable ends. How is it holding up since this video?

[I_Throw_Plugs]

what size wrench to tighten the bolt down?