Maintainence recommendation

I just spent the morning replacing the front parking brake cable on my '02. Wasn't terrible (~2hrs included 5 minutes on youtube to clarify how to get the end of the cable out of the handle) but here in the salt belt doing anything underneath an auto guarantees some rust in the eye, so I can't say it was really fun. Interestingly, the cable was in great shape for the full length with the exception of the banjo end that connects under the truck. That end, which is supposed to rotate a bit around the pin in the lever that connects to the rear cable (not sure what it is called but if you've looked at it you know what I mean) was rusted solid. Due to all the rust the end could not rotate when using the brake, so instead, the cable had to flex at that single point. Probably did not take too long for the flexing to fatigue the cable leading to a broken cable.

I don't know how long it was frozen up, but I am going to add to my maintenance to give a little rattle to it when ever I am under the truck to make sure it is free to rotate. I'd suggest anyone in a rust prone area due the same.

I bought the cable on Amazon ~$30 - made by dorman. Looked just like the one I took out, though did not include the 2 retaining clips that hold the cover in place at either end. The inside one was fine, but the one under the truck was a bit sketchy. It still worked however. I did have to hit one the retaining lugs (where the clip goes) at end of the cable with my angle grinder (metal cutoff wheel) as only 1 side had been notched for the retaining clip.