Mule 550 parking brake cable and rear end work

[Travis]

Wednesday is the arrival time for the wheel cylinder  at the dealer.

[Travis]

Headed to the dealership to pick up the part. HOPEFULLY i'll be driving by this evening. Or my other parking brake cable will be seized up by the time i get this one back  on.. lol 😆   

[Travis]

back from the dealer, gonna eat some lunch and start reassembling. 

[Travis]

!!ALL DONE!!

Just going to bleed  the brakes and go for a test ride. Hope my battery stay charged, about time for a new one. its about 6+years old.

[Travis]

All done.  My parking brake engages and disengages PERFECTLY.

Big thanks to Dennis at Pro Powersports Of Conroe  getting all the parts i needed!

 

Now what needs fixing next? lol

[kenfain]

Glad to hear you've got it going again. Did you flush out the old brake fluid, when you bled the brakes?

[Travis]

I did a flush as the manual stated back when i put the engine back in earlier this year since it sat for so long. But I'm sure doing it again would not hurt a thing at all.

[Nate T.]

Just picked up this exact same Mule for a good deal and then I found your thread here.  Good stuff, doing this right now.  I may need to pick your brain at some point.  

[Travis]

Feel free to... What's left of it. Lol

[Nate T.]

Well it's odd, there is hardly any info on the net about this model.  And I couldn't find a service manual anywhere either.  It's a 2004.  I can find a manual for a 2005 KLR 650 anywhere.  

[Travis]

Look up Techspark studio on eBay or Amazon! They make a manual on a CD for this mule.

[Travis]

Also, if you prefer a paper manual, get one for a Mule 500,520,550/

And buy the supplement for the 550/ they are all over ebay. Or used to be.

[Travis]

http://techsparkstudio.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=259

 

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=mule+550+service+manual&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=mule+500+520+550+manual

[Nate T.]

I'll look into that, thanks

[Nate T.]

So the OEM drum brake cylinder is stupid expensive, but I just test fitted a Dorman made for Suzuki ATVs, and it's almost a perfect fit.  The 2 mounting bolt holes are just a little off, but nothing that can't be handled by oblonging the holes in the drum back plate.  And for <$11, it's worth it.  Dorman W37850 Drum Brake Wheel Cylinder https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001PYV1I0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_TL5UDbWR61Q68

 

[Nate T.]

There's the Dorman sandwiched in between the OEM ones.  

[Travis]

Wow! Thanks for posting that! Even a standard automotive cylinder is $12-$20.

[Nate T.]

Yep, and, the OEM mounting bolts and the brake line flange nut are the right size/thread too.  So I thought it was a pretty good find.  I might have to try one of these $15 Amazon carburetors next just for fun. 

[Travis]

Yep, I'm about to take off my carb, as you know it's been idling rough. Then dying.

they say these Mikuni carburetors are real finicky.

I've had good luck with Chinesium carbs for Briggs engines. Though I hate to buy them OEM is so dang expensive.

 

[Nate T.]

Well it looks like this carb for a Kawasaki FE290 engine is really common and used in a lot of John Deer Gators, Club Car golf carts, and quite a few lawn mowers.  There are a lot of versions with it and seem to revolve around exterior dimensions for the throttle stack height and choke orientation.  But the bolt holes and throat dimensions seem to be the same and I bet they'd cross over from model to model fairly easy.  

[Travis]

Yep, the base model engine is FE290D-xxxxx

And was used in club cars and many John Deere equipment.

 

15003-2589 is The part number for mule

[Benf]

I am replacing the parking brake cables on my KAF300B2 500 mule. There were missing when I bought it. My question is, what holds the cable into the back plate of the brake assembly? There are grooves in the cable end but none of the parts diagrams indicate a clip or anything to hold the thing in place. I was able to stick them in the holes and use tie wraps to secure the cables in place but that doesn't seem like a good long term solution to me.

[Travis]

sorry, just saw this. i cant recall off the top of my head, i will look tomorrow morning.