VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 31 Brake Cross Shaft Issue

I have rebuilt the brakes on my 31 3 window and I am very disappointed. BUT....I think my problem is with the cross shaft. It appears the cross shaft brackets do not tighten properly and have a bunch of slop and movement to them which seems to make the brake rods move more than they should. When you step on the brake pedal the brackets rotate, (as does the shaft) but they don't stay tight to the frame. Question is.....are these repairable? I looked in both Gary Wallace's catalog and the Filling Station catalog and did not see anything mentioned. I have a 31 Sedan and that cross shaft is very tight and does not "swivel" as the pedal is pushed. Any help or tips will be greatly appreciated.

Well....I have BRAKES. The problem was as I suspected.....the cross shaft. I removed the Cross Shaft and had a machinist friend of mine build up the shaft to mate up to the bushings as they did originally. After cutting the ends off the cross shaft we were able to slide the bushing off and build up the shaft to the proper diameter. We also rebuilt the bushings where the shaft connects to the frame. The old rubber bushings were so far gone they did not do a thing. By replacing those bushings with plastic bushing duplicates, building up the shaft, lubricating everything with graphite grease, and replacing all of the clevis pins....I now have lever and arm movement that is effective. Before the rods were moving a further distance with not actually applying the brakes. Now the movement is doing some work.

My friend said if anyone else has the same issue he would be willing to take on the job.

Congrats, and great to know... i had to clean up my shafts as the bushings were binding on the shafts. i did not tear mine apart, but was close !! what a difference it makes when you get them working correctly and FREELY !! and on a 1929 you have double trouble, yeah 2 cross shafts, oh the fun getting everyone to play nice together

1929 Cross Shaft Lubrication