brake question

M

mike37cdn

Senior Member
I am building a 1928 tudor working on the front brakes iam looking for the right length of rod that goes though the king pins thanks
 
7 1/4 inches. Todays repros are the right length, but the domed ends can be a bit too large in diameter, requiring a bit of grinding along the edges.
 
I recently compared the repro operating pins to the ones I took out of my '30 Tudor. The domed ends were oversize as Pat mentioned, but the rods were clearly longer. The ones I removed from the car were almost 1/16" short of 7 1/4". The repros were almost 7 5/16" long. [I don't know whether the ones I removed were original or repros; I'd bet on the latter.] I asked the supplier about the repros - they were intended to compensate for wear in other parts. I ended up using the old ones with a pill to take up the slack.
 
IMHO, I find the length of the rod is immaterial, the actual dimension is meaningless. What you need is to have the brake lever at 15 degrees forward when the the brakes are ready to engage. As Pilotdave said, he used the shorter pin, and then had to install a pill to compensate for wear of the other parts. Its 6 of one, a half dozen of the other scenario. I would prefer not to use a pill, but sometimes they are necessary.
 
Follow my link for details of rod lengths and the repro.

The goal is 15* forward so the max braking is with the lever vertical. You need to account for wear in the wedge and lever end. Though you should be using new wedges to be sure you have the correct brake application per unit rod movement. Used wedges have been filed and you do not know what you are actually getting.

Brake parts compare
 
Just finished the front brakes and working on rear, so very fresh in my mind. I found out if you have a little play (up and down) in your king pin it will make a difference in adjustment once the weight is on the tires/thrust bearing. I elected to use old rods over longer new ones. Pills were a big help.
 
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