What is the recommended stock thickness for brake shoe linings
on a 57 Mopar? I had some relined down here and they made them so thick I
couldn’t get a drum on, yet there seems to be no information in the
manual as to what the thickness should be. I bought some new old brake linings
off Ebay and it solved my problem, but it would be good to know for next time.
Glenn.
From: Forward Look Mopar
Discussion List [mailto:L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Richard
Whelan
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2012 9:03 AM
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] '55 brakes
I don't
know about where you are, but Rochester Clutch and Brake in Rochester NY still
relines our brakes and cam grinds them to match the drums. some of the old
stock brake shoes are oversize, and you wont get a drum on unless they are
ground to match. Dick
Sent: Wednesday, May 02,
2012 2:32 AM
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] '55
brakes
Gauge? What gauge?
The only thing useful for getting a good initial
adjustment on the old center-plane brakes was a shoe archer and I don’t
know where you’d find one of those anymore. But even not having one is
surmountable albeit a pain. That was something I learned on the very first
driveway brake job I did on my ’57 Belvedere. Got all done and adjusted
them (being careful to turn the adjusters the correct direction) and,
cautiously backing out and driving on side streets only to find a very soft
pedal. Re adjusting them didn’t help and it was only after dad asked the
mechanics (that’s what they were in 1962. Technicians were the guys that
played with oscilloscopes, gauges and dials in electronic shops or hospitals)
at Edwards Motor Cars. They told him that if hadn’t arced the shoes all I
had to do was drive the car gently and re-adjust them a couple of times. I did
and guess what? The mechanics were right. Two more adjustments with putting a
few miles on and the pedal was nice and solid. And the shoes lasted as long as
I had the car with normal adjustments after that.
I’ve seen a lot of crap written about how hard it was to
get and keep those brakes in adjustment. To me they were the easiest brakes to
adjust, certainly easier then screwing around with those star wheel adjusters
on Bendix style brakes. Once the brake had worn in to exactly match the drum
(necessary even with arched shoes) the center planes could be properly adjusted
in minutes with nothing more than a socket on a breaker bar. The hardest part
(as with all brake adjusting) was getting the wheels off the ground so they
were free to rotate. If a frame type garage hoist was available, great. If not,
doing them using jacks and jack stands was a pain.
The two important things was to be absolutely sure the slot the
shoe sat in at the “anchor” (non-moving) end was clean so the shoe
was free to slide as needed. The other was to turn the adjuster the correct
direction. As I recall remembering that I haven’t done a set of center
plane brakes since the black 1960 dodge Seneca 4 door sedan I did in 1970, both
shoes on the front were turned clockwise. On the rears, the forward shoe was
clockwise and the rear shoe was counter clockwise.
The only gauge I am aware of that helps with adjust any brakes
is the calipers used to preset self-adjusting drum brakes. Those are totally
un-necessary with manually adjusting brakes and quite possibly a detriment on
center planes. A gauge that was attached to the spindle could be helpful in
getting the anchor end preset but the adjusters would still have to be set the
“lowest” position until the drums were on. But again I never used
one. Doing the first test drive and a few brake applications would set the
anchor ends so after readjusting after the test drive (Always a part of a brake
job on non self-adjusting brakes) they were good to go.
John Hagen
From: Forward Look Mopar
Discussion List [mailto:L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jesus
Jimenez
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2012 12:11 AM
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [FWDLK] '55 brakes
For a good number of years, I
have been unable to find a suitable gauge to adjust the brakes on my '55 Ply.
Sometime ago, I purchased one of those caliper types that measure
drum/shoes diameter, but since these brakes have two pivots points, it's
difficult to use this gauge. The manual shows a gauge that rotates on the
spindle which is more practical and easier to use.
I find it hard to adjust the
shoes without a gauge a pain since I don't know whether to adjust the top or
bottom anchor to fit them snuggly as this might wear out one side more than the
other one.
So, does anybody know of a
suitable gauge to use on these brakes?
What about the type of gauge
that rotates on the spindle, is this still somewhere available?
Jesus '55 Ply Belv 6 cyl/
auto/manual brakes
*************************************************************
To
unsubscribe or set your subscription options, please go to
http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=l-forwardlook&A=1
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2411/4972 - Release Date: 05/01/12
*************************************************************
To
unsubscribe or set your subscription options, please go to
http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=l-forwardlook&A=1
*************************************************************
To
unsubscribe or set your subscription options, please go to
http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=l-forwardlook&A=1
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network