Post war brakes question.
 

How hard should it be??

To fit the springs??

I am trying to put together some later brakes for my 32 project. I have 48 style backing plates, later shoes but no original springs. I only have repro springs. Even using grips I can't pull them into place.

Has anyone else had trouble with these springs?

I have a way of doing it, but it seems unnaturally difficult and actually bent the spring.

Mart.

Re: Post war brakes question.
 

Mount one shoe to the backing plate. Hook the return spring into the other shoe then use you hands pulling on the second shoe to wrestle it into place. Then install the crossbar at the bottom to hold both shoes.

You can do it also with return spring pliers. The spiked end i used a small piece of wood so it didnt dig into the bonded shoes.
Rivited shoes you can use thw spike in the rivit hole

Either way works, i usually just do it the first way by hand

Re: Post war brakes question.
 

Exactly the way I do it. It wasn't as difficult when I was younger :(
Springs are probably stronger these days - yeah, that's probably it :)

Re: Post war brakes question.
 

I've never had any brake spring pliers, they are available on ebay, though, I'll get myself a pair.

I've not had a problem wrestling them into place, before, but I've normally been dealing with the 39 pattern. These later ones with the spring clips and these repro springs just seem such a stretch. I have a method that works, so I'm ok, I just wondered if the repro springs are stronger or shorter than they should be.

Thanks for the advice.

Mart.

Re: Post war brakes question.
 

This will make you laugh and scratch your head.

S CAM air brakes. Installing return springs, the easy way was with a piece of vacuum hose. Leave the rollers out, slip a piece of vacuum hose over the return spring and install with easy starting with the other end of the spring in the bottom shoe. After its hooked use a pry bar to lift the shoe off the cam and slip in the roller

Re: Post war brakes question.
 

The springs supplied are way off spec ,to strong ! and the hook at the end is way to tight ,I cut ,I have the pliers but slide it down a screwdriver ,

Re: Post war brakes question.
 

Yes those springs are strong. Just did a front brake on the 46 pickup. With the right tool it is easy. Here is my old Craftsman plier. Plenty of leverage from the long handles.
John

Re: Post war brakes question.
 

I gave up on the new ones and put old ones back on.

Re: Post war brakes question.
 

Thanks for the feedback fellas.
UPDATE:
I had a scrap pair of loppers and modified them into a pair of brake spring pliers. They work great!
Brake spring pliers are not common over here, until they were mentioned in this post I had not thought of them.

I also improvised a strap to protect the brake surface and give the pliers something to pull against.

So thanks for the heads up.

These will probably be shown in one of my videos but here are some screen grabs for now.

I might yet be able to scrounge up some good used springs, but at least I can get these stiff repro ones on and off now.

Thanks again.

Mart.

Re: Post war brakes question.
 

Nice one Mart