Re: [FWDLK] Early "Disc" brakes on Crown Imperial

Hi Dave,

There were two types of Ausco Lambert disc brakes, the early type ’50- mid ‘53 these were a little complicated, and then the later ’53-’55 style which were more refined. I’ve just finished rebuilding the later type on my ’53 NYer that was optioned with them. They are not complicated at all, and were easier to work on than the drum brake system. You can unbolt the whole hub unit in 5mins leaving the hydraulic system intact on the car no undoing brake lines, loosing fluid, bleeding etc and you can work on the unit on the bench. Essentially the assembly consists of six standard hydraulic wheel cylinders (2 on each front and a single on each rear), two outer “rotor” halves and two inner discs with pads, the inner discs are held together with springs similar to your drum brake return springs and sandwiched in between these are large ball bearings on ramps which ease or ramp the disc up(rather than grabbing) to contact the outer hub surface. Oh they also have automatic adjusters on them!

With the engineering department developing the hemi, Powerflite trans, disc brakes, four barrel carb, dual quads, and much, much more I firmly believe that the ’50-‘54 was the greatest time of mechanical advancement for Chrysler Corp bar none.

Attached is a pic of the parts in the disc brake system. The only problem with these early discs is parts are impossible to find BUT Ausco Lambert is still making these type of brakes today mainly for heavy machinery. Which shows how advanced they were in ’53 or how backward we are toady.

Regards

Owen Grigg

From: Forward Look Mopar Discussion List [mailto:L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dave
Sent: Sunday, 8 June 2008 4:18 p.m.
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [FWDLK] Early "Disc" brakes on Crown Imperial

Out of curiosity, does anybody have experience with these? From the description and diagrams in the book, the design is intriguing for the era, but complicated.

Thanks,
Dave Moore