39-48 Parking Brake Lever Problem

mgm60

mgm60

Member
Running late 40s original style backing plates on my 36 Roadster. About 2 years ago the drivers side parking brake level came off while driving the car. Destroyed the lever and both brake shoes. Repaired and replaced with original style parts.
Today it almost happened again on the same wheel but I stopped before a lot of damage was done. Each time this happened it’s a tow truck home.
Here are pictures of the bent lever which I heated and straightened. Before I put it back together has anyone had this happen? I’m trying to figure out if I’m doing something wrong when installing the parking brake leaver and cable.
Mark
 

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mgm60 said:
Running late 40s original style backing plates on my 36 Roadster. About 2 years ago the drivers side parking brake level came off while driving the car. Destroyed the lever and both brake shoes. Respired and replaced with original style parts.
Today it almost happened again on the same wheel but I stopped before a lot of damage was done. Each time this happened it’s a tow truck home.
Here are pictures of the bent lever which I heated and straightened. Before I put it back together has anyone had this happen? I’m trying to figure out if I’m doing something wrong when installing the parking brake leaver and cable.
Mark
Click to expand...
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Glennpm I believe those are later Bendix style brakes so that stacking sequence won't work on my original style setup. No room behind the shoes for the parking brake hardware and my lever arm has to swing forward freely to actuate the forward shoe.
 
MGM, you have incorrect shoe clips in place. The correct clips are smaller than what you have. Also, and this is the root of the issue, the clip that "holds" the shoe down also holds the lever down.
I have attached a photo of what you should have...
 

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19Fordy the arm looks short because it’s bent 180 degrees because of coming into contact with the drum. I had to remove it heat it up and straightened it.

Kube, thanks for the photo. I searched all over and could not find anything showing that clip. Where in the world am I going to find 4 of those? I have the same clips as in my photo on the passenger side.
 
what an unusual failure!

my first question would be one concerning the force necessary to bend the lever into such a position. ...where did it come from?

was it imparted by the turning brake drum? or possibly by the driver's arm if the force was excessive and possibly NOT being distributed symmetrically to both rear brakes. or maybe a combination of both?

in any event, i've recently had quite the education on the e-brake workings on my '41, which are quite similar. to the extent that a new-to-me brake backing plate need to be found and installed.

and as mentioned. if the lever was not positioned under it's retaining clip, it could, if enough force was exerted could be pulled out sideways toward the spinning brake drum's inside surface, and then i suppose, eventually hit any protuberances on it and be snatched upward and bent as the pictures show. a pic of the inside of the brake drum might show damage if that was the case.

but i find it somewhat remarkable that that lever could be bent in such a way and NOT be pulled off its pivot pin at the top. *headscratch*

on my car the previous owner had put those levers on the wrong sides...putting the left side levers on the right side and visa-versa. it was a wonder he could get the brake drums back on the axles like that!!

and now knowing what's going on back there when the driver's had lever is pulled, i don't give a hard "yank" anymore, if you know what i mean. haha
 
mgm60 said:
19Fordy the arm looks short because it’s bent 180 degrees because of coming into contact with the drum. I had to remove it heat it up and straightened it.

Kube, thanks for the photo. I searched all over and could not find anything showing that clip. Where in the world am I going to find 4 of those? I have the same clips as in my photo on the passenger side.
Click to expand...

I'll look tonight. I may have them.
 
The Boling Bros. Bendix brakes on my 40 look like this, if it's any help as a comparison.
 

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Fellas thanks for the picture of the Bendix brakes but they won’t help me. What I have are the early 1939-41 Lockheed brakes. The picture Kube provided is what I have and I have the wrong hold down springs for the rear brake shoe and parking brake lever arm. Here’s a picture from Vanpelt that shows the brakes I have. In the picture in View C is the brake shoe anti-rattle spring with the arrow showing its location. The section view shows it has two sections, one to hold the shoe and the other to hold the parking brake. I need two of those. What I have now is the spring in the second picture which is made to only hold down the brake shoe.
 

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Kube said:
MGM, you have incorrect shoe clips in place. The correct clips are smaller than what you have. Also, and this is the root of the issue, the clip that "holds" the shoe down also holds the lever down.
I have attached a photo of what you should have...
Click to expand...

Those are the correct clips for '42-'48 brakes; they don't capture the brake lever like the '39-'41 brakes in your picture.

Other than that I don't any idea on the cause; unless possibly the pivot pin is undersize or the holes in the arm or shoes are oversize or a combination of those that is enough for the arm to move outward far enough snag the drum.
 
mgm60 said:
Fellas thanks for the picture of the Bendix brakes but they won’t help me. What I have are the early 1939-41 Lockheed brakes. The picture Kube provided is what I have and I have the wrong hold down springs for the rear brake shoe and parking brake lever arm. Here’s a picture from Vanpelt that shows the brakes I have. In the picture in View C is the brake shoe anti-rattle spring with the arrow showing its location. The section view shows it has two sections, one to hold the shoe and the other to hold the parking brake. I need two of those. What I have now is the spring in the second picture which is made to only hold down the brake shoe.
Click to expand...
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Here's the 1940 Ford rear brake set up. Passenger side. Driver side.
 

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Thanks for those closeup shots of both sides 19Fordy. I've circled in white the clip I'm missing and I need two, one for each side. Please let me know of anyone who might have a set of 39-48 rear backing plates laying around that still have these clips.

I've looked online and a few vendors sell 91A-2125 or 51A-2125 but I think those clips are like the ones I already have. If anyone knows if either of those part numbers are like the one circled in the photo let me know.
 

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Also the brake shoe return spring at the E-brake arm should be behind the rear brake shoe then into the hole in the shoe and in front of the front shoe and then into its forward shoe hole. You can see that detail in the photos above. Contact Southside Obsolete or Third Gen Auto for the proper clips
 
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