Luv them brakes- and Chrysler for giving us hydraulics long before Henry.
Heres an exerpt from an article I wrote a few years ago for the monthly
bulletin for LCVA (Light Commercial Vehicle Association) which is now
basically This Old Truck magazine....for my 38 Plymouth pickup.
But read on forward look owners-----
" Pulled the wheels off and lo: Great linings! But what was that
coming out of the wheel cylinders? Crystalized honey? No- just old
fluid that gooped up the entire system! So much for the "brakes
completely rebuilt"- maybe 10 years ago.
Fortunately I live in the same town as Northwestern Auto; I was able
to match the stepped wheel cylinders and easily get silicone fluid.
Got it all buttoned up, bled, and "lo" again- still the pull, grab, etc.
An "old timer" said the way to rid linings of oil was to soak
them in lacquer thinner a day and set them afire! Decided I had
nothing to lose so followed suit- I could always buy new linings.
Yes, it did work but only some. It took perhaps 3 months of fiddling
around with those shoes, using shop
manuals I now had, to get them pretty decent. The key finally was to
grind an adjustment slot in the edge of the drum so a feeler gage
could be used to check heel and toe clearance..."
That last paragraph is the key. If your brakes are bled and adjusted as
well as U can do, perhaps heel and toe clearances are off? My Motors manual
says that heel and toe clearances are .007 and thats measured with the hub and
drum on the car, clearance between the ends of shoe and the drum/
There is an almost unobtainable special tool that was made to check this
clearnace but not to worry, U simply grind that inspection/feeler slot in each
drum with a die grinder or yur bench grinder, being sure to not get filings
into
the wheel bearing!!!!!!!!!! SLot should be what, 5/8 to 3/4 long and just
wide
enuf (say 1/16") to slip the feeler gage into. I used a very small rat tail
file
to round the edges to miinimize possible stress cracks.
NO WAY U SAY?
Well my 51 Merc came with said slots from the factory.
Of course U need to verify that everything else is to specs, so all the
hydraulics
are functioning fine, no air in system, etc
AND
my 62 Ply shop manual says for spongy brakes-
a air in system
b undesize brake shoes
c oversize brake drum
d cracked brake drum
and add
e bad wheel hoses (old and/or oil saturated) that allow
the hoses to bulge under operating pressure.
Get those creepers out folks!
Rotsa Ruck
Lars
PS- I have gotten many hard to get parts from Northwestern for my 56-
Oil pump, valves, springs, distgributor, NOS front springs, front shox, etc
I think they have a website.
Grand Rapids Phone number
800 704-1078 per Hemmings
and they are STRAIGHT and will and do ship anywhere.
Tell em Lars sent ya the guy with the seaspray green 56 Ply wagon.
PS
If U posted any 39-42 moparz FS I cannot read MIME files which the
larger newsletters are coming in on- so E mail me at AOL
larspaintr@xxxxxxx
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