Can some of you please read and answer my questions about F-100 brakes that I posted 9-18? So far I have heard from no-one.

I'snt this forum for sharing of knowledge? I'm a new guy and thats why I subscribed ...but maybe I'm in the wrong place?

thank you!

yours in rust, Boogiewoogie

 

Hey there, we're here once in a while.......you fell prey to the too-many-forums-syndrome. Welcome to the club - we've all done it more than once.

Your question is posted in the 47 and older forum and I answered it there. Dennis also replied, suggesting you might get more advice if you posted it on this forum.

Everybody here is super helpful, but we are all like you - just guys dropping by here on their own time with jobs, family responsibilities, more truck/car projects than we have time to work on, etc.

 

Welcome to FTE -

You don't need to get too snippy with these guys, you posted your questions in the 1947 & older forum. Not many of these guys go there since the trucks have so many differences. With us having a 1941, I wouldn't have a clue on what to tell you.

Below is a link to your original post. Mflat has already posted one response. As Dennis posted, you may want to copy and paste it into this forum and you may get more assistance.

[https://www.ford-trucks.com/dcforum/pre48/210.html]



**Edit to Say "Hey Tim, you beat me to it by a couple minutes".

 

Welcome to the FTE board, you are at the right place for help on Ford Trucks.

I don't see a post by you , requesting information on the 18th. but there is one for the 17th. If that is the one your speaking of, you have had two replies and I also emailed you at the adress you indicated in your post. The answer to that question, from all information given, is maybe your have received rear brake drums instead of front drums. They are simalar but the rear drums are slightly narrower than the fronts, the rear shoes are 1/4 narrower than the front.

If this doesn't help maybe others can help you.

 

Boogie, I've had all sorts of balance problems over the years, but never ran into drums that caused bouncing. I know some drums have weights on them from the factory, so obviously they are balanced when they are manufactured. Unless someone deliberately removed one of the balance weights, I can't imagine the drums causing an out of balance condition. Most balance problems/vibration I have had over the years were due to bent rims, improperly balanced or out of round tires, or bad shocks. If it's not one of those, I don't know what to tell you.

 

Thanks to all who took time to reply. Mtflat, you’re right too many things to do-too little time.

Carlene, honest I wasn’t being “snippy’ –I don’t have a mean bone in my body. (BTW looks to me like you gota nice truck there J ) emails have a way of often giving the wrong impression because the reader can’t hear the :-) inflection in the senders voice!

As far as where I posted the msg, (on the 17th! Huntsman, -Oops!) it was in the earlier truck forum as I was hoping someone else with an older truck had used the same components from 1953-63 truck and had figured this #@&*! Stuff out. However I also did post it here on the 1948-1960 forum for the same reasons…

Tom, I didn’t “receive” any new parts from anyone. II was referring to old original stuff that was fully assembled for decades and all fit together as it should… I hear ya Vern, that’s all been cheked on believe me… I’m thinkin’ too that radials may well make the problem “go away” -at least that’s my hope LOL!

Thanks again everyone. I don’t have much time but I’l chek in from time to time. Say whats the best way to reply to something like this anyway? Direct to each respondent, or by a simple “reply” to the original posting ? I.E. how would everyone involved get the answer in a timely fashion ?

-Boogiewoogie 9-19 4:10 PM

 

Thank you all for answering….! The drums in use on my '31 Ford coupe Hot Rod are "1956" F-100 AND either 1 ¾ or 2” -of that I’m am not sure, but will check ASAP and get back to you…

A little more to co clarify my dilemma: FOR PARTS, I have the ENTIRE front end off a “alleged” ’55 F-100 -only minus- the axle and kingpins: the Spindles, Bearings, Hubs, Wheel studs, and Drums.
–Everything- is matched to each other piece. They all fit together, and obviously have been together since ( 1955?) creation. The drums can’t possibly be rears I’m thinkin’, ‘cause they FIT the front hubs and space over the shoes correctly on –THESE- front end parts.

What they -DO NOT- correctly fit, -“back-space” wise, is the F-100 hubs ( with alleged 1956 F-100 Backing plates drums, and shoes ) on my CAR- ( which is a ’31 Ford Coupe Hot Rod with a 4” dropped Deuce axle, mounted with ’42 to ’48 Ford Passenger car spindles ) -they are 3/8 “less deep” if you can conjure up an image of what I mean. Sometimes it is difficult to explain technical stuff by E-mail!!! %#@!

F.Y.I.; To make F-100 hubs fit the passenger car spindles, one must radius the inner F-100 bearing race to match the radius on the passenger car spindles -which was done following age-old HOT ROD practice when the car was built a decade –and 25,000 Miles ago…and have worked fine ever since –EXCEPT- for this #@&*!?! Wheel bounce!

Now… any more ideas fellas ?

thanks again, Boogiewoogie 9-19 4:15pm

 

Boogiewoogie, I think I understand your description and problem. All my parts catalogs show the same front drum for 1/2 ton pickups 53-63.

As I indicated in my answer on the other forum, the '48-'52s had an offset drum on the fronts. It has a 2" (I think) brake shoe and that is what the turned part fits, but the face of the drum where the wheel bolts on is actually 2 1/2" from the backing plate.

It sure sounds to me like thats what your '31 is wearing up front. If you need definite measurements I can pull a wheel off my '48 and check for sure, but my general description should be close.

You can check by laying one of your drums on the floor face down and see if the shoulder is close to the floor or does it sit 1/2" or so high.

One guy found a cheap solution in a junk yard by locating a pair of drums that measured 2 1/2" X 11" from a later pickup or large car - he wasn't sure what they came from.

Later,
Tim

 

Boogie

I agree with a previous poster that shakes are almost always caused by tires, particularly if the problem has a certain speed range. It seems you have eliminated that possiblility though. Drums could cause it too of course. You might also want to check your leaf spring eye bushings. I rode in a truck today with badly worn bushings. This can cause a violent shake/shimmy.

'fenders

 

>Say whats the best way to reply to something like this anyway?
>Direct to each respondent, or by a simple “reply” to the original
>posting ? I.E. how would everyone involved get the answer in a
>timely fashion?

Best way is to hit the "Reply" button below any of the messages or the "Reply With Quote" below the message you want to include in your reply (like I did with your post above). Your reply will appear at the bottom of the list and everyone can see the series of comments from everybody else.

I'm glad you're going to measure your brake shoe width and let us know what it is. That will absolutely rule out having rear drums on the front, etc. I posted the measurements for both front and rear shoes in the second reply to your message on the 17th.

George

 

>>Say whats the best way to reply to something like this anyway?
>>Direct to each respondent, or by a simple “reply” to the original
>>posting ? I.E. how would everyone involved get the answer in a
>>timely fashion?
>
>Best way is to hit the "Reply" button below any of the
>messages or the "Reply With Quote" below the message you
>want to include in your reply (like I did with your post
>above). Your reply will appear at the bottom of the list and
>everyone can see the series of comments from everybody else.
>
>I'm glad you're going to measure your brake shoe width and
>let us know what it is. That will absolutely rule out having
>rear drums on the front, etc. I posted the measurements for
>both front and rear shoes in the second reply to your
>message on the 17th.
>
>George




Again everyone, "I'm workin onit" thank you to all who answered!

yours in rust, Boogie " we be back later"

 

Hi folks

Well I’ve done some checking on my old parts and have decided to post the following in a effort of helping someone else at a later date with the mystery of early F-1 and F-100 brake drums; I.E. “what fits what” Hopefully some one can learn something –or at least have something to think about :-) Thanks to all who responded to my inquiries about this dilemma.

Cheers, boogiewoogie 9-23-02

***************************************
EARLY F-100 BRAKE COMPARISON
-between a "so called" 1955 set and a '56...

DRUMS: Both drums have 2 ¼” of “shoe surface”. Look Identical but have different "offset" see below.

SHOES: Both sets of shoes are actually 2” in width.

HUB BACKSPACE:
(measured straight back from the brake drum face
on the hub to the backing plate with a steel rule)

-on the so called 1955; 2.625
- on the alleged 1956; 3.250
the difference; .625

DRUM OFFSET:
( as measured with the drum to wheel face lying on a flat surface. (open side up)
Measurement is from that flat surface to the outside edge of the drum)

-on the so called 1955; .220
-on the alleged 1956; .620
the difference; .400

Because the hubs were spaced out further, so too did the drums need MORE backspace” in order to cover the shoes entirely. Thereby answering the nagging question, “why ain’t my shoes covered”?


Clearly somebody at Ford long ago decided that track width must be changed from what it was to something else. I’m betting the one we are calling the “1955” is perhaps in reality a bit earlier –say of 1948 to 1952 F-1 vintage. I’m guessing here but I bet’cha that after 1952 some engineer wanted a wider track of an inch and a quarter… ( .625”X 2 = 1.25” change in track ) so they changed both the hub flange centerline and the drum “backspace” to make that happen. What I stumbled upon was a mis-match of different year parts. The moral to the story being “you must keep hubs AND drums of the same years together when messing with early Ford truck brakes”!

Further, I’m betting that suppliers in the past twenty or thirty years either; 1. Forgot they were different, -or 2. Did not feel there was any profit in making two different drums for these early applications –figuring (and perhaps rightly) that they’d never get their money back from tooling up to make the “shorter” of the two so they just blew it off -leaving those of us inclined to mess with rusty old Ford stuff to be forever lost in the haze of time and wirebrush dust. Wandering about forever like the guy with the lantern looking for an honest man

…so now you know “the rest of the story”

 

Boogie, or anybody,

This thread has piqued my interest. My wife has a 29 roadster that will need the 'juice' brake conversion eventually. And eventually I'll be swapping my 54's straight axle for a Gibbon kit so I'll have some spare 54 front axle stuff. So my question; is there a site or other source of information on how to do this?

Sounds like I need late 40's spindles and then a matching backing plate/drum setup from an early 50's truck.

TIA,

pcmenten