[FWDLK] '56 Plymouth Brakes

[Richard Barber <C300@xxxxxxx>]

I'm advised that Plymouths as late as 1959 still had lug bolts and that it
was not unknown for RH thread lug nuts and bolts on the driver's side to
come undone.  I worked on a lot of cars in the '50's and don't recall ever
encountering any loose fasteners on either side of a car.  But, I've slept
since then.

Rich Barber
Brentwood, CA
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Barber [mailto:C300@xxxxxxx] 
Sent: Thursday, February 04, 2010 11:48 PM
To: 'Forward Look Mopar Discussion List'
Subject: FORWARDLOOK Digest '56 Plymouth Brakes

These daily digests come to me in very difficult to read format with a lot
of garbage text.  Is that normal?  Are there some options that would get me
cleaner text & messages?

Regarding the Plymouth brake shoes:  My experience with my '55 Chrysler 300
was that I had to buy a special hell-for-stout drum puller for the rear
drums.  See Item 9 at:
http://www.chrysler300club.com/rcmstuff/partsforsale.html	It works
great.  Remember to leave the axle nut  threaded loosely to the axle end as
the drum can come off the tapered axle like a cannonball when it lets loose.
I had the shoes relined at a Sacramento shop, but the drums would not fit
over them, even in the minimal position.  I returned the shoes and the drums
to them and they "arc ground" the shoes to fit the ID's of the drums.  Next
time, I'll remember to take the drums in the first time.  I had my mechanic
give a light cleanup pass on the brake drum machine so as to preserve as
much iron in the drums as possible and that worked fine.  It always seems
that it would be best to machine all the grooves and scratches out of the
drum ID's, but these drums are getting kind of hard to find and a light pass
to knock down the high spots and restore roundness may work just fine.  The
reline shop also refused to reline a couple of the shoes based on some
measurements they took.  It was not a wear issue, more like a warpage issue.
I got their last two brake shoe cores.

Historical note:  1955 was the last year that Chrysler used lug bolts that
threaded into the brake drums.  There are locating pins on each axle flange
to help align the wheel before threading in the lug bolts.  That's what the
little holes between the larger lug bolt holes are for.  The driver's side
lugs were left-hand thread- apparently to reduce the tendency of the
spinning and vibrating wheel to loosen the threaded fasteners.  I never did
buy that one.  In 1956, Chrysler began pressing the lug bolts into the brake
drums (axle flanges?) and using lug nuts to hold the wheel to the drum.

Rich Barber
Brentwood, CA
1955 Chrysler C-300 (Goes a heck of a lot better than it stops)
 

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