Brake floaters

Russell Reay

Russell Reay

Well-known member
My huckster build is at the point it is almost ready to drive on the road. I rebuilt the front suspension and brakes A to Z , and am hoping for no surprises. From what I have learned about brake floaters, and positive comments from some of you in the audience, I foresee needing (or wanting) them. Several posts have referenced floaters by Flathead Ted, but some of our reputable vendors offer non-FHT ones. Recommendations requested.
 
Flathead Ted's work the best in my opinion because both ends of each brake shoe float.
 
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I have the FHT floaters and they work well. I am not familiar with the other brands.

The brakes have to be in good shape before you put the floaters on them. Since you did the A to Z brake job, you should be good shape.

The turning of the drum helps to force the shoes against the drum, but only on one shoe for the stock brakes and the other shoe is actually forced away from the drum. The floaters allow both shoes to be helped by the turning of the drum, forward and reverse.

The stock brakes that are returned to factory condition do a good job, but even factory brakes can benefit from the floaters.

The modern understanding of how the brakes work puts more braking force on the front. This is because of the "weight transfer" to the front when braking. You can get about 25% less stopping distance by biasing the braking to the front rather than the rear. This means that the front brakes will start to drag first rather than the rear when you use the stick method of adjusting them.
 
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I've put FHT's on my coupe. I have not had an easy time dialing everything in. But having said that, the brakes are much better now than before I did the work. The brakes on an A can be a constant frustration, but I believe in the aftermarket improvements such as FHT floaters.
 
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