The brake pedal on my 1964 truck is pretty hard brake. It brakes if you put extra pressure than I would guess is required. I cleaned and refurbished the master cylinder, we filled and purged the brakes to see if that was the case. The brake fluid would gush out on all four brakes so that should mean the lines aren't clogged. Is there anything else in missing? Any thoughts or guidance from you guys I'd gladly appreciate it!

 

A little more info please. Have you ever
drove a rig with manual brakes much?
Are the shoes and or drums glazed over?
Can you lock up and slide any wheels at all?
What kind of pad lining material is on the
shoes? Can you remove a front drum and show
us a pic or two of the lining and drum? All I can
think of is that the brakes are glazed over. Did you
have any oil or fluid ever leak or get onto the brakes?
This would cause them to glaze and almost be useless.
Axle lube, brake fluid or any oil could do this.

Here is how to post pic's on FTE

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ure-guide.html

 

How old are the brake hoses?


I replaced mine and it made a world of difference in the performance of the drum brakes.

 

Replacing Hoses made a world of difference on mine as well.

 

Hopefully sometime this week will be going through the drum brakes on my 64 and will post some pics. Front axle first. So far have replaced M/C, all hard lines and brake hoses.

They are still pretty weak. Am guessing glazed worn shoes and wheel cylinders stuffed with crud. Maybe not this bad, we'll see!

 

I'll bet an ice cold RC Cola that he aint used to driving a 50 year old truck without power assist brakes.

Oh & I do think power assist brakes are a darn GOOD thing.


John

 

Mind if I use your thread for some illustration? Since I have a 64. These shoes are on "backwards". Driver's side shown. They've been that way for sometime. Twern't me that done it.

Does it matter? Well I think the fine folks at Bendix knew what they were doing. For one thing they may not apply as much braking force, and the front brakes provide most of the stopping power. The self-adjusters may not work as advertised either, not sure. This adjuster here is froze up solid. Luckily there's no ridge on the drum, it came off with little trouble.

The "short" shoe or primary belongs towards the front on post '48 Ford Trucks as I understand it. I peeled back the dust cover to see if there's any crud in the wheel cylinder and it "looks original" IYKWIMAITTYD. R&R that tomorrow.

 

Ok, looking at the self-adjusters. Usually, brake parts are sold as a set - one axle. Makes sense, right?

Well apparently the self-adjuster kit manufacturers are having none of that. They are sold Right Front and Right Rear. Next, there's no assurance that my existing brake setup is correct, they certainly weren't working. I can figure this out OK despite my headache, but also thinking "why bother?"

It wouldn't bother me to leave out the cable entirely - prone to breakage anyway and really f#%*¥ing things up in there - and just adjust the brakes manually as required. Is this doable, or does the adjusting cable have to be installed?

 

If the cable snaps but doesn't wipe anything out the brakes do still work. They would just need to be manually adjusted. So, you should be fine removing them as far as I know. Liability wise, it's all on you, though.


.

 

You can remove the cable and bracket however you have to have the correct spring to go across the star adjuster to keep the adjuster from moving until you use the brake spoon to adjust. That's the detente you feel with the brake spoon.

No spring the brakes will not stay in adjustment, they could tighten up or loosen up. Be careful, if you're not sure take it to a brake shop. The correct spring has to be there.

Good luck............

 

You quoted me, but I'm not the one asking the questions. I know it will need a different spring across the bottom of the shoes. That's the liability part and it is all on him. If he plows right through someone and splits their car in half front to back I'll just ask to see pictures.


.

 

What TBird said is true, too, as long as your adjusters aren't frozen up. If they are frozen up then manually or automatically adjusting them won't work. And they won't loosen or tighten on their own, either.


Talk about stating the obvious, but on a pulic forum it probably doesn't hurt for those who come along and read this ten years from now....and then reply to it.


Don't REPLY ten years from now. I'm only kidding, for Steve's sake!


.

 

True, I wasn't sure where to pick up the thread but I thought it was important. That's why I suggested he take it to a brake shop. Sometimes it's best to go see a professional that wont rip you off.

have a good one................

 

Thanks. I'm the idiot that pays my hard-earned money to answer questions for other people. I know, makes no sense at all. To me, either.


.

 

Well it's not like the "professionals" necessarily do things absolutely correct either. Both front shoes on both axles were installed backwards - so they were consistently wrong at least.

I wondered about the spring for the self adjuster. To be clear I was only talking about disabling the automatic feature, that is prone to hazards anyway. If the cable breaks, it often gets jammed between the drum and shoe. Not a super deal there either.

They'd still be perfectly adjustable for best pedal. But I will go ahead and "do it right" for now. Near as I can determine, the self adjust lever in all cases regardless of axle expands the shoe (when backing up) by ratcheting the adjuster wheel 1 click in the downward direction. Seems simple enough.