Re: [Chrysler300] Center Plane Brakes

["Dave Schwandt" <finsruskw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I think my brand new '74 Dodge D300 club cab & chassis was around $5300.
Still in the family now owned by my youngest son Russell

Dave Schwandt

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "George Riehl" <longrams@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "300club" <Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 3:13 PM
Subject: Fw: [Chrysler300] Center Plane Brakes


> What a wealth of information a "little" brake squeal problem can bring to 
> life!  This is what the list-server is all about! I am so glad to have 
> some other very knowledgeable members contribute to history. Hopefully, 
> all the "young" guys know what we are talking about.
> Having owned a '47 Ply, '48 Ply, '48 T & C Cvt., '51 Saratoga, '53 DeSoto 
> cvt., '54 N.Yer. H.T. and a '55 Imp. sedan, hands-on work was performed by 
> me. Both the Saratoga Club Coupe and New Yorker Special Delux 2 dr. H.T. 
> (a Golden Falcon) was bought new by me. By the way, that N.Yer. cost 
> $4,711.53 out the dealer's door. To buy the comparable car of 
> today........$30K+?
> Other than whatever had to be done by warranty, I did all the other work 
> by myself and loved it.
> (Now I am really telling you all just how old I am).
>  George
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: RWestra@xxxxxxx
> To: longrams@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 12:30 PM
> Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] Center Plane Brakes
>
>
> I worked on the Center Plane brakes when they came out in the 50's and I 
> recall problems with squealing and grabbing.  I also recall the service 
> bulletin George Reihl referred to.  I tried the saw cut several times with 
> mixed success.  I, like George, have no idea why it was successful when it 
> was.
>
> We also experienced problems with grabbing, or pulling,  and had a great 
> deal of difficulty correcting these problems.  I believe this was the 
> result of manufacturing variances in the brake anchors and the variation 
> of the profile of the heel on the shoe.
>
> The Center Plane brake was Chrysler's last attempt to avoid buying brakes 
> from Bendix.  Chrysler had used a Lockheed design for many years and 
> fought hard to give in to Bendix.  The Bendix brake was self energizing 
> (it still is).  That is; the rotation of the drum against the shoe when 
> the brake was applied forces the shoe harder into the drum.  Chrysler, 
> with the Center Plane brake, accomplished this by the floating heel of the 
> shoe being in contact with an anchor that was placed on an angle so the 
> rotation of the drum against the shoe caused a wedging action that forced 
> the shoe into the drum making it "self energizing".  This was an 
> improvement over the fixed heel anchor of previous Chrysler brakes. The 
> concept was fine except the variation in cam position and the profile of 
> the heel of the shoe was very critical and resulted in the amount of self 
> energizing to vary causing pulling or grabbing.  This also changed over 
> the life of the brake.
>
> Chrysler used two forward shoes in each front wheel and one forward shoe 
> in each rear brake.  This meant that six of the eight shoes were self 
> energizing in the forward direction and actually self de-energizing when 
> in reverse.  Only the rear two shoes in the rear brakes were self 
> energizing in reverse.  This is why these cars are so hard to stop in 
> reverse.
>
> I believe it was the introduction of the self adjuster by Bendix (and 
> perhaps the problems with the Center Plane brake) that finally caused 
> Chrysler to say uncle in the mid sixties.
>
> 
> Rolland Westra.
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
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>
>
> 



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