Need help 55 Ford brakes
- Thread starter BRU
- Start date
BRU
Junior Member
Sorry, I forgot to tell you all that I have a car not a truck. THanks for all your help and I am going to check every inch of the line to see if it has a pinch in it and also check the shoes for glazing. I was wondering where you all get good quality shoes and lines?
P.S. You all have a great Ford day!!
P.S. You all have a great Ford day!!
KULTULZ
Well-known member
Is that slot on the front side of the drum?
You guys are correct, there is an eccentric and moveable anchor pin on the front brakes.. I found my early manuals and the 54 and 55 describes the procedure and also refers you back to the 52 SHOP MANUAL for added info.
It makes sense as the front brakes do the majority of braking and have to be more within tolerance.
As soon as my scanner joins the living I will (hopefully) post the pages.
Now I am not using this as an excuse, but most of my experience began with the '57 model year. I just never got interested in earlier models.
KULTULZ
Well-known member
I am going to give you some sites to read and you can decide how you want to go-
https://www.porterfield-brakes.com/index.php
http://brakeperformance.com/brake-drums-and-shoes/
https://ebcbrakes.com/product/oe-quality-brake-shoes/
Alaska Jim
Well-known member
My '51 Merc. also has that slot in the drums, and If I remember correctly, .010 is correct. I don't remember for sure, but I think the slot is on the "outside" of the drum. I adjusted the brakes several times in a row using the manual and applied the brake pedal several times after each adjustment to make sure the shoes kept seating in the same spot after each adjustment and kept the correct clearance. I found this method of adjustment in my factory service manual. When I last did a brake job on the Merc. and adjusted the brakes per the manual, I was amazed at how good and solid, and "high" the pedal was. I do not ever remember the brakes being so good, they are excellent and I drive this thing in rush hr. traffic, with no problem in the fast lane ( overdrive ).
BRU
Junior Member
Thanks guys, I will check these things out. I have a Ford manual but it doesn't say anything about having a hard pedal. I have pushed on the pedal with 2 feet and it still won't slide the wheels. I was taught, with car off the ground, to tighten up the adjuster to the wheel won't turn, and then back off adjuster 3 clicks. Also my drums do have the slots in them so I will check the ten thousands and compare them to the 3 clicks. If it's 10 thousands or 15 thousands it's only going to move the pedal a little more or a little less. The part I really don't understand is the hard pedal it's like it won't apply pressure to the wheel cylinders. I drive this car in the rural area but I don't like taking it to bigger towns. Thanks again!
dmsfrr
Well-known member
From the suggestion box... (the way the old guy taught me)
Rotate the wheel/tire at least a full turn in each direction as you tighten the adjusters and it will help keep the shoes centered in the drum, for a more accurate adjustment.
This also helps with spotting warped or out of round drums.
.
Last edited:
rotorwrench
Well-known member
The anchor pin "2027" reference is adjustable to better center the shoes in the drums. It really takes two people to adjust centering. One to push the brake and one to loosen & re-tighten the stud or pin. Most Bendix drum brake set ups had this feature. Arcing was also less important with this feature but now and then, the shoes still don't fit the drum well.
The master cylinder piston may be sticky in the bore. Wheel cylinder pistons can get that way too. If you take all the drums off. The pedal should move easily but don't get carried away with pushing the pedal when doing this test.
The master cylinder piston may be sticky in the bore. Wheel cylinder pistons can get that way too. If you take all the drums off. The pedal should move easily but don't get carried away with pushing the pedal when doing this test.
Hot Rod Reverend
Well-known member
Not sure what you mean by flashy, but if you go to the home screen simply click on “55 Ford Blog” at the top of the page. When that page loads if you scroll down and look on the right you will see a very large list of words all alphabetized. Click on any word/subject you are interested in and the next page that all of the entries that include the word/subject about the work on my 55 Ford.
The website is powered by wix.com, do let me know if it could be made less confusing. It is one of their templates I am using.
Daves55Sedan
Well-known member
I got hold of a '56 Ford car shop manual back in 1973 and been using it for everything except electrical for all repairs on my '55 car & wagon.
The '56 shop manual says that the top anchor pin is non-adjustable and cannot be moved to adjust the brake shoes on page 208. It also says "DO NOT remove the anchor pin from the carrier plate".
The exploded view of the brake backing plate assembly on page 212 shows the anchor pin held in place by a large lock-washer and nut on the backside of the backing plate, which is exactly what I have on my cars. I have seen many other '55 & '56 car brake assemblies and they were all exactly like this.
I have also seen some older models, '51 and 52-54 that had additional adjustment mechanisms besides the bottom star-wheel adjustment, leading me to believe that these shoe positioning adjustments were all discontinued by 1955.
The '56 shop manual says that the top anchor pin is non-adjustable and cannot be moved to adjust the brake shoes on page 208. It also says "DO NOT remove the anchor pin from the carrier plate".
The exploded view of the brake backing plate assembly on page 212 shows the anchor pin held in place by a large lock-washer and nut on the backside of the backing plate, which is exactly what I have on my cars. I have seen many other '55 & '56 car brake assemblies and they were all exactly like this.
I have also seen some older models, '51 and 52-54 that had additional adjustment mechanisms besides the bottom star-wheel adjustment, leading me to believe that these shoe positioning adjustments were all discontinued by 1955.
rotorwrench
Well-known member
The anchor adjustment was likely deleted for several reasons. For one, folks don't always understand what the intent of the adjustment is plus the procedure may not be followed which could do more harm than good and especially if there is a lot of wear on the brake shoe linings or drums. If a person or persons attempt this adjustment, it should be done when installing newly relined shoes and true turned drums within factory wear limits. Most manufacturer's would recommend this be done by factory trained mechanics only. It is seriously important that the brake system function as intended for obvious reasons.
KULTULZ
Well-known member
The first thing my manual(s) list as hard brake pedal diagnosis is old and dried-out lining material(s). And who knows where the lining material was sourced when it was serviced last.
No.2 is freezing/binding of the pedal eccentric.
This is all with no freezing of any hydraulic part. Also, fluid should be changed at a minimum of every two years (IMO) as it draws moisture and leads to nasty things in the system. Just stick your finger into the MC bowl and see what you pull out.
I am still searching through my manuals for all the differing types of brake adjustment(s) within this period and there is much contradictory info, both in the SERVICE MANUAL(S) and the MPC (understandable).
This system(s) seemed to have been phased out somewhere during the '55 model run. Later manuals 53-54-55 refer you back to the 52 MANUAL which describes no eccentrics, just the adjustable anchor pin (while the later manuals do).
I think...
...that this CHINESE FIRE-DRILL SYSTEM was replaced with lining arc-grinding to replace all of this complicated hardware.Self-Adjusting Kits were available back in the day and might be considered also.
TO BE CONTINUED-
KULTULZ
Well-known member
- WE HAVE A WINNER -
Both the 54 and 55 used an eccentric. Previous was adjustable anchor pin. There is a slight design difference (54) from the 55 also-
Attachments
Daves55Sedan
Well-known member
Well...well ! The '56 shop manual does not show the "eccentric" nor does it mention it. But both my '55's have that short round post that holds the back of the primary shoe out when the pedal is released. I did not know that was an adjustable eccentric. By golly, I might be able to get that car to stop one of these days if I get down there and work on that some !
KULTULZ
Well-known member
Let me go further-
The 54 had the eccentric on the secondary shoe and an adjustable anchor pin. The 55 had the eccentric on the primary show with a fixed anchor pin.
If anyone needs the actual SM pages, I have copied them.
Now, to add to the confusion...
Personally, I would consider adapting 56 SW drum brakes to the earlier models for more effective braking (drum) if you want to keep the car somewhat original and do not want to go disc.
KULTULZ
Well-known member
Daves55Sedan
Well-known member
I decided to see if I could snag the shop manual page right from here and it worked. Here's how I got it.
Right click on the picture and save it as (picname).jpg into the photo folder in your hard drive.
After saving it you can open the picture on windows photo viewer which every windows operating system has and you can read it from there or you can print the page full size from windows photo viewer on your printer.
I got it and it printed out full size so I can insert the sheet into my '56 shop manual to replace that page since I only work on '55's.
Thanx KULTULZ for posting that SM page.
KULTULZ
Well-known member
You are quite welcome. I love learning forgotten factoids on the older cars.
I just wish I was more computer savvy to do all of them fancy city things on my computer...
54vicky
Well-known member
checking back I notice no one mentioned removing the brake line from master then trying to apply brakes I would slip a plastic bag over master to catch any spray so it does not get on paint.I feel doing this will show if master is the culprit by that I mean the orifice not being blocked from crud over the years