Well...it took a whole lot of finagling. there's 2 bolts that are pretty visible. One of them you really need a ratcheting 10mm wrench to get off, and there's a stud with a nut up top of it that you can barely get too. It is very hard to see. I ended up taking all the lower panels off so I had better access to the whole mechanism. The light switch on there has to be removed with a pick from the backside of it. You have to use a pick to push in through the hole in it otherwise you'll be there all day trying to pull it off, or it will break I guess. Once you get the 2 bolts out and the upper nut loose (doesn't have to be taken all the way out) and the light disconnected it's all about working the whole this out of there through the harnesses and all.
Now...once you have the mechanism and cable out you have to put it in a vice and with the pedal all the way to the top most position you have to get a screwdriver and push down on the spring loaded reel (for lack of better terms). You'll be able to turn the thing that holds the cable in back at that point. You can stick a screwdriver in a hole in the side to get leverage to hold the spring back. Then it's all about finessing the cable out of the groove. it can be difficult to hold the spring back far enough to get the hammerhead of the cable out. Especially back in.
Putting it all back together is just the reverse of taking it apart, you have to work it in around and over all the wiring harnesses in there and get the upper slot back on the stud under the nut.
Like I said they made it tough, but doing the cables my self saved around $400.00 in labor for the front and left rear. I had to take it to a shop to have the right rear done. It alone was $400.00 the right rear is routed over the fuel tank and through the frame over top of the fuel tank. I had it jacked up and on stands and it was just not doable on the ground. It took the shop over 3 hours up on a lift to get it done.
I go boating a lot and towing the boat in and down the launch ramp is very scary with no parking brake. I keep being afraid that park will fail while I am out and launching and there goes my truck into the lake...this parking brake job was important. Overall, with the new shoes and cables it costed about $600. But that renewed the whole system.
