Cabriolet hand-brake cable wear

[Tobester]

Whilst getting my new custom stainless exhaust fitted (more on that later) I was having a good poke around underneath and spotted this:

and this .

It's where the hand-brake cable sheath goes over the steady bars on both sides. Have any of you remedied this before? What did you do? And any ideas on how to prevent it happening again?

 

[DWH]

On my 2003 cab, there are plastic shields which keep the handbrake cable out of the way of the steady bars.

The offside shield was missing from my car and so I bought a genuine one off ebay last week, this is the link.
AUDI A4/S4 AND CABRIOLET RIGHT REAR BOOT FLOOR SHIELD 8E0825216R GENUINE NEW | eBay

I was under the car investigating a rattle which sounded like tinny plastic hitting more tinny plastic coming from what sounded like the nearside interior side panel and after much effort with all the plastic hood storage mechanism, turned out to be the front steady bar mount was loose and the steady bar was rattling when you went over bumps.

I'm surprised that your cable seems to have worn the steady bar so much

David

 

[Tobester]

David, thank you! Not having even one I had no idea there was supposed to be something there - though I thought it odd that Audi would have designed it like that. I shall get a couple ordered.

I would imagine it's been like that for a long time, the steady bar is actually more worn than the pictures suggest :-(

 

[DWH]

What model have you got and how are you getting on with it ?
Mine's a 1.8T and although it is a bit lacking in power I love the solid feel and general build quality. I'd like a 3.0 tdi quattro next but that will have to wait a while.
David

 

[Tobester]

Lol! Yeah, sorry I just noticed that I hadn't put that important bit of info in. It's a 2004 1.8T Quattro - I too thought it a bit underpowered so have just had it remapped with a Revo Stage 1. It's made a huge difference and the car is far more enjoyable now, that and the stainless steel custom exhaust I've just had built for it! I've put some photos on the 'What have you done to your B6 today' thread.

 

[DWH]

I would check that those part numbers are still appropriate for a Quattro before you buy.
Saw your other posts, looks good.

David

 

[Tobester]

It turned out I didn't need the under-body panels because they were already there!

If you look at the photos you'll see it's where the cables turn to go to the rear wheels and run under the lower wishbone - so it's a physical impossibility to have any other panels etc in that place to allow for the movement of the wishbone (and for the cable to move with the hub). The corrugated sheath IS the protection for the cable, but after ten years of use even that is wearing thin! New cables planned for it's winter service (just been done for the summer and they're still working fine so no need to change just yet).

 

[DWH]

It's strange that the metal tie bars have worn so much. I would have thought it would be designed to have a sliding mount so nothing got worn through.
The quattro must be a different setup as on mine, the cable outer wears through the rear edge of the plastic underpanels....still not ideal.

 

[Tobester]

When I put it up on a different lift that allowed the wheels and suspension to hang it made perfect sense. There are full length panels on the Quattro which stop just out of the photos and cover the handbrake cables (amongst others) until they appear in time to turn towards the hub.

But you're right, I thought that wear was excessive which was what made me think something was missing in the first place! But it would appear to be normal - just having occurred over a very long time . . .