1935 Ford 1.5 Ton Truck Brakes

[Shrek55F250]

2 Questions:


1) Is there any info on rod mechanical brakes out there?


2) Would it be easy to change over to hydraulic brake upgrade?


I would like to know any ideas or suggestions.


Thank you very much! Chris in TX

[Bob C]

Page 3 of the 1932-37 Service Bulletins has information on the truck brakes.


Bob

[GB SISSON]

I have pondered this many times. I love the bigger trucks and have owned 5 or 6. I solved it by selling a really nice '37 1 1/2 ton and buying a '47 2 ton. After that I was more comfortable hauling loads on my steep mountain road. I wish I could steer you to a kit or easy solution. Maybe later model backing plates would bolt to your axles like the car/pickup guys do. Chucks Trucks in Conneticut might have the info. Call him? He's very knowledgeble and a nice guy.

[Model51]

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Chris - It sort of depends on what you intend to do with your truck. Mechanical brakes work very well as long as there is no the slop in the pivot points, they are properly adjusted and the truck has good drums and good quality shoes. If you plan to haul heavy loads, drive fast, drive in traffic, then you might want something different. A 1935 Ford 1 1/2 ton truck was meant to be driven at a more relaxed pace but also haul amazingly heavy loads. One option is to add a vacuum booster which was an option back in the day. These systems used the same rods and shoes but significantly increased the effective pedal pressure and were used on bus chassis and other heavy duty applications. I'm not sure where you could obtain the air brake components, so that's a limiting factor. Before you make significant modifications to your truck, carefully work though all the clevis pins and components and replace anything that's not tight and also look at your brake shoes and drums. Once all of that is sorted out, you may be pleased with how they work. If not, then maybe a different truck would be the easiest solution.