Self-adjusting brakes are a nice idea. Most of the time.
I once had a 1965 Dodge Coronet 500 for my driver. I took a trip in it once
to the Black Hills of South Dakota. As I rolled into Wall, SD, on the return
trip, to visit the drug store, I noticed a cloud of smoke following me down
the Interstate 90 off ramp. I suspected an over tightened brake since the
left rear drum was very hot. The jack was on the bottom of the trunk, under
a ton of camping gear, so I decided to look for a service station instead of
unloading on the roadside. The shop I found only charged me 6 bucks to jack
up the car, back off the adjuster, pull off the very hot drum (using very
thick gloves), and remove the self-adjuster.
The drum was very badly warped, causing the brake peddle to pulse up and
down. By the time I got home, the warped drum had partially un-warped to the
point that it was only half as noticeable in the peddle. Every time I drove
the car, the drum got hot and cold from the friction and shifted back into a
more round condition. After a couple of weeks, it was hardly noticeable.
After a few months, the warp was gone. I had planned to get the drum turned,
but if I had, it would have shifted back to its original condition and then
been out-of-round again. Sometimes procrastination pays. Never did put that
self-adjuster back on. And I never did figure out what went wrong. The
self-adjuster worked fine for 20,000 miles or so since the last brake job,
before it over-tightened the brake.
I have found the Lockheed Centerplanes on my 56 to be easy to adjust. Just a
slight twist of the wrench and you are done. No messing with an adjusting
tool in a slot, no trying to remember to ratchet it up or down, and no using
a screw driver to hold off the catch on the star wheel if you go too far and
have to back it off.
Dave Homstad
56 Dodge D500
with Lockheed Centerplanes, no self-adjuster.
-----Original Message-----
From: Forward Look Mopar Discussion List
[mailto:L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of eastern sierra Adj Services
Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 2:25 AM
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [FWDLK] ADJUST THIS....
Bill brings up an interesting point, about the "Bendix Duo-Servo "
brakes, as installed on 60's Mopes.
When I retro-fitted Bendix 11x3" brakes on my car, I removed the
self-adjusting 'bits-pieces'
from the brakes.
NOW, I kinda wish I'd kept them on the brakes &/or arranged to make them
"work", as the Bendix's are VERY powerful, and tend to
'go' out of close-tolerance/adjustment, so that they can tend to be very
'touchy/grabby' in their application, where they come-on
suddenly/sharply. They are easy to adjust, manually, & don't have the
bass-ackwards
wrench-adjustment procedure, that the Lockheed Centerplanes have. But,
without those self-adjusters, the Benix's need attention, kind of like a
mid-60's Hemi car, with solid-valve lifters requires, as compared to the
late 60's Hemis, with their hydraulic lifters....
SO, there was a sound-engineering reason, to put self-adjusters, on the
Bendix brakes!
A necessity, rather than a 'luxury'.
Neil Vedder
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