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Old 04-26-2018, 01:20 PM   #14
Charlie Stephens
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 7,012
Default Re: New or Used Parts

Quote:
Originally Posted by restoredguy View Post
Here is the dilemma everyone in your situation ultimately faces...Once the front wheels and surface of the tires are capable of a skid at the point of braking at the road surface the tire isn’t smart enough to know if a hydraulic or a mechanical brake was actuated to cause the skid...therefore, once you achieve a skid of Model A braking...will hydraulics improve that?

No. Because it’s an impossible task, to improve braking once you’re capable of making the car’s front brakes skid...except...when and if you change the tire foot-print to a wider surface area in contact with the road surface...by increasing the tire width you increase stopping power...that’s why you see so many model A’s with later model wheels which provide a wide tire surface and increased stopping power when the brakes are actuated. I hope that helps you...one consideration worth suggesting is Henry’s answer to better brakes was not initially hydraulics...in 1932 with the increases in HP he increased the footprint of the braking surfaces and the tire surfaces at the same time while maintaining a mechanical brakes system...’32 backing plates and components aren’t expensive and cosmetically nearly indistinguishable from the Model A parts...only a very few individuals would even be able to recognize the differences, particularly if it was mounted on the car.


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I agree 100% when you say "the tire isn’t smart enough to know if a hydraulic or a mechanical brake was actuated to cause the skid...therefore, once you achieve a skid of Model A braking...will hydraulics improve that? ". I must agree that hydraulics will not improve that. But I also note that you said "tire" in the singular. The problem is with the tires (plural). With mechanical brakes you don't get the same force applied to all 4 tires. Proper rebuilding and adjusting will solve the problems but I bet that 50% of the Model A's on the road meet that criteria. I have mechanical brakes on my car but they are in the 50% that are properly rebuilt and adjusted.

Your "footprint" observation is interesting. Most often overlooked is that the downward force on the tire is less with a larger footprint. I hear this often but would sure like to see some real tests conducted on this theory.

Charlie Stephens
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