VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 Mechanical brake adjustment, '33 Master

I'm sure this has come up many times but here goes. I have completely overhauled the brakes on my '33. I mean everything disassemmbled, feed up, cleaned, painted, lubed, brake drums turned, new seals, correct linings installed etc. I have adjusted as per instructions in the Chevrolet manual. The rear wheels always skid, never the front. There are many skid marks now on my neighbors private road. If I loosen the rears a little equally I just lose pedal. I assume front cables just stretch enough that there nothing I can do to equalize all four wheels. If The designers wanted to have more braking force in the front (usually the front brakes do at least 60% of the braking) they should have made the crank arms longer for the front brakes and shorter for the back brakes. Am I missing something here?

Are your new braking linings the correct thickness?

I would wander if your brake rods are adjusted to correct length plus what JunkYardDog said about the thickness of your linings.

I have been working on rebuilding the brake system on our '32 BA for the past 3 weeks, making new bushings, straightening bent rods, welding up worn shafts, freeing the equalizers, buffing, painting, calling in for parts, ect. and i have found with the brake adjusting tool used for the '32 chevys (not knowing if this tool is able to be used for a '33 Master) that the brake rods were in extreem instances, up to an inch out of adjustment which in turn always made one front wheel lock up. I also descovered worn and fraid front brake cables which will eventually stretch and break the rest of the cable strands. I was lucky to find NORS brake cables.

I would suggest checking the brake rod adjustments. If any one of them are out of adjustment then that will mean one more extreem braking pressure to one wheel or wheels than the other(s).

The linings are new correct woven type and I think about 3/16 inches thick. I was told by the brake shop that if I had thicker linings I would not be able to get the drums on. The car stops evenly and straight, its just that the rears always skid on hard braking. I do not have the tool the book shows for adjusting the rods. I suppose this might be the problem (that the rods are not the right length). I don't understand where the tool goes and its purpose. If anyone could explain this maybe I could make one. Thanks for your input. Gene Kruger

With the rear brakes "locking up" and not the front suggests an imbalanced adjustment. I would lifting all wheels clear of ground propping the brake pedal in a position that applies rear brakes so you can just feel them operating, then adjust the fronts along the system from wheels until all wheels have equal drag.
Tony

While re-adjusting the brakes and if they have been apart, one would suggest to centralize the brakes aswell. This is done by loosening the centralizer nut at the back of the backing plate, having someone step on the brakes firmly and while holding the brakes down, tighten the centralizer. Repeat this for all wheels. This centers your brake shoes. THEN adjust your brakes to the drum. The shoes should JUUST lightly rub the drum, then lock it down.

The tool i was talking about hold the brake cross shaft at a certain degree to which then you adjust the brake rods ti'll they fit back onto the brake device with the pin. You may find one or more rods are extreemly out. Atleast in my case i did.

This is the brake tool i am taking about. It is the first one atop the page.


http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~partsort

I SEE NOW THAT THIS TOOL IS NOT INDICATED TO WORK FOR A '33 BUT I SHOW THIS AS A GENERAL IDEA.

I cant seem to make my link work. Just go to www.fillingstation.com and search "brake tool"

Would anyone have a picture of the cross shaft assembly? I'm putting the whole thing together and it seems that the cross shaft goes through the right side bracket and out to the side where it connects to the arm and pull rods. Is this shaft supposed to be floating in the bracket or am I missing a bushing?

ron

The shaft will be bushed and the bracketing will be bushed, however the whole assembly is a floating unit if thats not confusing. Meaning attatched to the frame by the two side brackets and one center bracket. The shaft will float on these pivots. The original bushing material was sort of clothy like clutch and brake lining. It was this that lined those little pivot ball things inside the brackets...But i used leather. I couldnt get proper material THAT thin without crumbling.

Thanks Oilspot; I'm still a little confused; the shaft attaches through the swinging side brackets but is there any bushing (or) on the passenger side cross member attachment? Mine has a larger hole through which the shaft passes but seems to float around in the hole; is the correct? Any way you could send a picture of yours?

ron

Yes i can post pic. I cant really get a quality pic as of now though becouse its dark out But i think i understand what your describing... A bracket, almost mid frame of the cross shaft. This is suppose to contain a bushing aswell. If it does not, it needs too. This is mid support so that the shaft doesnt bend under braking pressure.

Thanks, there's a bushing on the left side but nothing on the right side bracket. I don't see where this bushing should be; there doesn't seem to be any way to attach it. If I could see a pic of the mechanism it would probably clear this up; I can't find any pictures in any of the owner's manuals or parts books.

ron

The bushing goes in between the two riveted halves of the bracket which hangs down from the chassis. You will need to remove the end lever off the brake cross shaft to enable you to remove the hanger bracket from the cross shaft. You then drill the rivets out, and install the new bushing and then rivet the halves together again.

The lever is removed by grinding the peined over end.