When I pull up on my emergency brake it pulls with no resistance until the end of the travel.  Then it starts to engage the brakes slightly.  Does this indicate the cable has stretched, or that it is sticking somewhere, or something else?  It would be nice to have a functional e-brake!

Mine does the same thing. Except it has absolutely no resistance the whole way. But when the e brake lever is pulled the brakes work awesome.

Hi

     If your brakes are in good shape and properly adjusted it means your e brake cables have worn and need adjusted.
     Not a big deal as I recall, follow the cable from the rear wheels forward till you find the adjuster and then tighten it up till you remove most of the slack.
     (careful not to tighten too much or your rear brakes will be dragging all the time)

Zag

Hi

     If your brakes are in good shape and properly adjusted it means your e brake cables have worn and need adjusted.
     Not a big deal as I recall, follow the cable from the rear wheels forward till you find the adjuster and then tighten it up till you remove most of the slack.
     (careful not to tighten too much or your rear brakes will be dragging all the time)

Zag

Thanks.  If I knew how I would give you more karma!

AAAAHHHH my friend the Karma comes in the next life.....


with my kuck I'll come back as a rock

Zag

The adjuster is accessed by removing the plastic trim around the parking brake. The cables attach to a small balance bar behind and below the lever. Each cable can be adjusted up seperately to take up the slack and to keep the bar square. If the lever goes up a long way then one of the cables may be broken. If all is well pull off the brake drums and check the adjusters are working properly.

Sounds to me like your rear brakes need to be adjusted.  They are supposed to self adjust.

I would check the back brake adjustment before you mess with the e-brake cable.

Just my .02.   

Cwkick

Sounds to me like your rear brakes need to be adjusted.  They are supposed to self adjust.

I would check the back brake adjustment before you mess with the e-brake cable.

Just my .02.   

Cwkick

I second that.  make sure the self adjuter is working, it seizes easy if you do a lot off mudding and water crossing.  I take mine apart once a year.  remember, there should be slight rub with perfectly adjusted drum brakes,

Yep, classic worn rear shoes or adjusters not working

When I pull up on my emergency brake it pulls with no resistance until the end of the travel.  Then it starts to engage the brakes slightly.  Does this indicate the cable has stretched, or that it is sticking somewhere, or something else?  It would be nice to have a functional e-brake!

Mine is like this too, I didn't really pay attention to it 'till you brought it up.    It still holds both wheels and passes safety inspection, so it doesn't bug me.
I didn't know they had a self adjuster, My car has a star adjuster, what's the difference?

I didn't know they had a self adjuster,
My car has a star adjuster, what's the difference?

None, the star is supposed to get adjusted by the
E brake lever in the wheel, sometimes they just don't
work or get stuck from mud or water crossings

Wild

When I pull up on my emergency brake it pulls with no resistance until the end of the travel.  Then it starts to engage the brakes slightly.  Does this indicate the cable has stretched, or that it is sticking somewhere, or something else?  It would be nice to have a functional e-brake!

Most likely your rear shoes are at the end of their usefull life. just to be safe make sure  both cables are working and attatched.

Mike