Front brakes

[Msaby]

I am planning on getting back in the garage this weekend. I would like to clean the front rims and check the front brakes. Once I remove the wheel what areas should I be examining, obviously brake material thickness but what other areas or any preventive maintenace that should be performed. Any tips or tricks I should know before I pull the drums.

Thanks
Mike

[Farrell In Vancouver]

Back off the brake adjusters first before trying to pull the drums.
Clean and repack the bearings, lube everything that moves, inspect King pin for wear and movement, check drum for cracks and shell thickness, insure all Cotter pins are in place.
If you keep looking you will find something that needs servicing.

[TinCup]

Make sure the roller tracks are in good shape.

[Tom Endy]

Check that the four backing plate bolts on each wheel are installed correctly. The head of the bolt should be inside the drum with the castle nuts and cotter pins on the outside. This is opposite of how they are installed on the rear wheels.

I have found them installed backwards on a lot of Model A's. When incorrect rotating hardware inside the drum will contact the castle nuts.

Tom Endy

[H. L. Chauvin]

Hi Mike,

Maybe carefully observe RH & LH Front Axle Nut positions:

If your driver's side & passenger's side front wheel bearing nuts were carefully ground down on the back side & carefully fitted by the former owner or mechanic to achieve:

A. Cotter pin alignment of the cotter pin in both the RH & LH axle & castle nuts; &,

B. Also proper compression of the front wheel bearings such that when the front axles nuts are tightened, they achieve the Timken recommended 0.007" in & out hub movement, (or close to same); then,

C. Not a bad idea to mark both top flat sides of both nuts prior to removing the cotter pins so when re-installed, the RH & LH castle nuts are in the same correct positions to obtain correct nut torque for both front axles.

D. Marking Paint: Typewriter "White-Out" white paint, (what's that?) from Wal-Mart lasts a long time when painted on an axle nut.

[Tim B.]

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Good advice by all.

In addition I'd recommend. If you don't have Les Andrews book get it an have a good read first. Do one side at a time. Get some containers to put anything you take apart in. Before you remove anything disconnect the brake rod and check the fit of the pins, clevis and that rod is straight. Look at your actuator arms and note if angle is about 15% or if not about what the angle is so you figure out if you will need any shims or need to check the operating pin for length or wear. If your car is stopping well count the number of turns you backoff the adjuster wedges so you have a point of reference when everything is back together. If shoes are ok and you remove them mark the front and rear shoe so they go back in the same place if drums are good so you maintain the wear pattern. Put some painters tape on the brake linings to keep greasy finger prints off of them. Check the brake shoe roller pins. Make sure they are installed with roller head towards the roller track. Make sure rollers & roller head pins don't have any flat spots. Check the operator pin for wear & length. If you remove the shoes check the springs for tension, they should not be easy to remove. And be prepared for some surprises. Sorry to be so long winded but a simple job is not always simple on an 84 year old car. Have fun! Tim