A brake problem has me stumped
 

I have a problem that has me a bit discouraged. I had my brake drums trued. Now as I try to ajust them like Tom Wesenberg posted on 10-23-15. The problem is that when I turn the adjuster untill it locks and back off just enough to release the drag, I cannot get braking when pulling the brake lever all the way back from the 15* forward position. There is no braking. The diameter of the drun after turning is 11/1/16 inch. The push rod is installed with 2 pills. The wedge pushes the shoes out and all seems to be right. Can a1/16 or even a 3/32 increase in diameter be enough to cause the shoes to not contact the drums enough for braking? I did re arc the shoes to the drum.

Are there oversize shoes availabe? Is this the answer? So far I am only gotten to the first wheel. Left front.

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

Most drums are throw away at .060 so at a 1/16" you may be at new drum time.

Bob

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

Worn tracks was my problem.

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

Worn adjusting wedges on the top?

Larry

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

See if your getting enough lever travel with the drums off.

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

Thx guys: I'm starting to understand. As you can see, I've had no experience with brakes other than replacing with new parts. I did not know about the .060 limit, etc. I'll get my drums measured and talk to Snyder's. I may be able to use the shoes for drums over .060 cut that are in their catalog.

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

If you are using original steel brake drums, .060 is to the point that they are getting a bit thin. Late cast iron drums should tolerate .060 but that is starting to get to the limit.

If your tracks, rollers and pins are good, and you were able to center the shoes properly, you may need another pill. I do not like to use more than 2 pills but at times have had to use three.

Just my opinion,

Chris

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

Thx chris for the info

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

Something doesn't seem to make sense. If you're adjusting the brakes until they bind and backing off just until they turn [ they will still catch a bit], and the arm is about 15º forward on the fronts, just use your hand or big ass pliers and move the arm rearward and see how far the arm moves to apply the brakes. It shouldn't be far at all. The rear brakes would be the opposite.

I'm thinking there is something wrong inside the drums, bad rollers/tracks etc. Mechanical brakes are fussy and everything has to right for them to work correctly.

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

agree with patrick,, even with worn drums they should still catch...
something is not kosher

are your other brake rods hooked up?
maybe they are stopping the l/f front from pulling ///adjusted wrong?
more info needed

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

If you can lock up the brakes with the adjuster, then the .060 oversize isn't causing the issue. There isn't much swinging space for the push rod lever side to rotate in the king pin cup. The further in the shaft assembly in the cup, the less the lever can swing before hitting to a stop. With the adjuster just backed off the shoes only need to expand about .020" to activate. Something is screwy. This is why I had said to check the lever travel. Maybe at 15* forward, it's already at it's stop.

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

If the wedge is pushing the shoes out, are the shoes expanding greater than the drum diameter?

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

I agree that something doesn't add up. In addition to what Mitch said in #10 check that the brake cross shaft isn't being stopped by hitting the torque tube. This can be caused by frame sag at the rear motor mounts.

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

When I rebuilt my front brakes two years back, I had the problem noted in #11. t was caused by oversize ends on the reproduction Front Brake Shafts (Part # A-2077-B and # A-2076-B in Snyders Catalogue) binding in the king pin cups.

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

how did you resolve it?

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

I am trying to post some pix to show my problem. One pix shows the operating wedge in the up position (lever 15* forward) and another pix shows the op wedge pushed down with the lever full back. U can see that the op wedge does move by looking at the sliding slot at the top of the wedge in one pix and open at the bottom in the next pix.

Also I have this shoe centering tool. I do not know how to mount it. Can anyone help me with this?

I have found some brake liners at Bratton's that are 1/16 " thicker to use with drums turned to max at 11.060 diam.

Do you think if I order those, it may solve my prob? They worked perfectly fine untill I did nothing but turn the drums. The other side only turned by .030.

I haven't been able to post more than one picture at a time. So if neccesary, I will have to post four times .

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

More pictures

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

Another photo

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

Last photo

Re: A brake problem has me stumped
 

Looks like you are using Ted's floaters. That kit must have a wider slot in the wedge, or a narrower bolt to allow the one brake shoe to push outward while the other stays still, as in the first picture.

I still don't see why it shouldn't adjust and work correctly.