Bent brake rod

1

1929 Leatherback

Member
Has anyone seen a brake rod with a bend in it. My 29 leatherback has a bent in the rear service brake rods on both side. Every manual I have looked at seems to say that they should be straight.
 

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That was commonly done to shorten the rod a little.Not the right way,but if you needed to get to work you did whatever it took to get there and back.
 
With all due respect guys above that happened because the rear brake rod hit the rear shock arm and shock adjuster. The car may have 32 or v8 shocks where the shocks are taller (thicker) than rhe A. It can also happen when the return springs on the radius rod are mounted not canted outward far enough. It is. Lose wnougj when they hit a large bump or have back seat load that upon the spring bounce tho can happen.
Look at your shocks and rod clearance and you will see. Yes many times rods get modified for length but in this case it appears to be a shock clearance issue. Doing service work and lots of brake work I see this more often than you think .
Larry Shepard
 
First, find the cause, as Larry wrote about above. Then straighten the rod. The bend will act as a spring in the system and cause the brakes to be spongy.
 
nkaminar said:
First, find the cause, as Larry wrote about above. Then straighten the rod. The bend will act as a spring in the system and cause the brakes to be spongy.
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Thanks nkaminar , the brakes can actually get Stuck on . I’ve had Thai happen with guya on tour and they hit a big bump and then their brakes get stuck on . I’ve removed rhe rod, straighten in a curb bumper with a hammer and reinstall and torque and Cant outward the brake rod return springs to push the rods outward …. Problem solved ! Except if you have later shocks as I stated it will happen again . Thanks nk!
Larry
 
This can also happen if the rear brake arms are installed incorrectly causing the offset to be wrong.
 
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