Brake rod from brake pedal

3

30standardcoupe

Member
I have a 30 Standard coupe.

When I install the brake rod coming from the brake pedal to the Brake light switch, no matter how much I adjust the clevis, I cannot get it close enough to reach the brake light switch.

I have the switch mounted on the back side of the cross member.

Am I missing some parts or?????

TIA
Clay
 
I am attaching a couple pictures of the brake connection on my Model A SW 4D T/S. I did not have trouble making the connections on my brake system. I hope that this can help.
 

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Yes I have. In my opinion, the brake operates exactly as it is supposed to. I have not had this on the road yet, but it seems to operate as it should.
 
Post some pics of the rod at both ends....you could be missing the part that pushes on the switch... I have seen them cut off before......
 
Ensure that the flat end of the brake rod is actually making contact with the brake light switch rod. It may be below or above it. Sometimes the end of the brake rod (inside the cross member) has to be bent in order to make contact with the brake light switch. Crawl underneath the car and look up inside the center crossmember. If the end of the brake rod is not in contact with the switch's rod, bend the rod a bit so that it does. A very common occurrence.
Another thing to check is that the service brake equalizer cross shaft is in the "neutral" position. Sometimes during a "restoration" (that term is to be used advisedly!) it gets set up too far forward so that the vertical arm is almost touching the inside front wall of the center crossmember. That would also account for you not being able to adjust the brake pedal-to-switch rod enough to make contact = the cross shaft's arm is already too far forward.
Yes, photos would help.
Marshall
 
'Sorry. Check one more thing, please. There are numerous holes on the back wall of the center cross member, sometimes even more added by past owners to adapt other types of brake switches. Make sure that the brake light switch is bolted to the proper holes and that the rod goes cleanly through the correct hole to line up with the flat portion of the brake rod. Ensure that the rod goes all the way through the hole and hasn't been pushed back inside the stop light switch as it was tightened against the cross member wall. That hole can become too small from excess paint build up or damage, thereby not allowing the plunger to do its job. Push back and forth on the switch's plunger rod to ensure the action is free and not being held up inside the hole that may be too small.
Marshall
 
There are a few different brake rods for this area. One has a small round end that pushes against the brake switch and another that has a larger round end. I have looked at several of these rods and many are bent others have the round ends worn and should be built up with weld so they don't bind up or slip off the brake switch, i hope all this makes sense.
 
Ok here is some pics

The 1st one is on the Brake pedal itself

The last two are by the brake light switch.

The rod matches/meets the brake light switch, its just not long enough. I tried adjusting the clevis, still does not reach.

TIA
Clay
 

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I don't really see the problem. You have a lot of adjustment at the pedal
end and it looks like the other end is touching the switch. You just need
it to push the switch in far enough to turn the brake lights off.

Bob
 
Disconnect all service brake rods from the cross shaft. Then adjust the pedal clevis so that the switch end is1/16" from the cross member with pedal up. Re-adjust all serve rods.
 
It sure looks like you have plenty of adjustment to reach .
Remove the 4 rods from the service brake shaft
Adjust the pedal rod so it is 1/16th from the crossmember (where the switch is)when the pedal is pulled up.
At this point the brake shaft should be in a vertical position where the 4 rods hook up..
Now set up the rest of the brake rods by just removing the slop out of the system without applying the brakes.. Do this after adjusting the brakes at each wheel. make sure the axles are supported when jacked up and not hanging as this will pull on the brake rods..
 

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In the 1st picture you have the rod adjusted all the way in. Go the other way. You have a lot of threads to turn to lenghthen the rod and touch the brake switch
 
If the service brake equalizer shaft is initially misadjusted with the four brake rods still hooked up, all the re-adjusting of the pedal brake rod in the world isn't going to move the pedal's connecting brake rod back far enough to activate the brake light switch. The connected service brake rods will permit that shaft to rotate backwards only so far. The posters recommending setting the neutral cross shaft adjustment FIRST are on the right path, from what I can see. Once that adjustment has been properly achieved, it's most likely that the service brake rods will also have to be re-adjusted to match the equalizer shaft's new neutral position.
I have run up against this same problem before with "restored" Model A's, and the problem almost always lies in the initial set-up of this all-important shaft. Other possible contributing problems can addressed one by one after the initial set-up adjustment has been attained. THEN such things as an incorrect pedal rod length can be considered, although from the pictures, it looks correct.
Marshall
 
By the way, I no longer trust measuring the distance between the equalizer shaft's upper connecting-to-crossmember distance when initially setting up the adjustment. I learned this the hard way years ago while trying to sort out a horribly-performed REALLY amateur restoration, where almost nothing worked properly. I finally removed the shaft to discover that some idiot had re-welded the arm at the wrong angle. Somehow, it had apparently broke, so welding was necessary. It would be have been a good thing if Einstein had restored the proper angle of the arm, too. The new angle threw everything off, equating to horrible brakes that were all but impossible to hook up and make function.
What I do now is first disconnect all the brake rods, and then suspend a weight from the lower eye of one of the outside arms on the cross shaft. This will put the cross shaft in the correct up and down axis. THEN check the gap between the upper arm and the center crossmember. If it comes close to the mythical 1/16" gap, so much the better. If the arm hits the crossmember in this orientation, then the arm is bent and needs to be straightened before continuing. With the weight holding the cross shaft in a stationary position, adjust the pedal-to-switch brake rod so that the clevis pin at the brake pedal can just be inserted. That should set your brake light switch travel and supply the "neutral" position required for the subsequent service brake rod connections. Now adjust the clevises on each brake rod so that the clevis pin can just be inserted. Then adjust the brake wedge on each backing plate. Don't forget to re-insert those cotter pins into each clevis pin!
Critical to all this is the initial orientation of that equalizing brake cross shaft! Get that right first, and the rest will fall into place.
Marshall
 
Last edited:
Marshall V. Daut said:
Ensure that the flat end of the brake rod is actually making contact with the brake light switch rod. It may be below or above it. Sometimes the end of the brake rod (inside the cross member) has to be bent in order to make contact with the brake light switch. Crawl underneath the car and look up inside the center crossmember. If the end of the brake rod is not in contact with the switch's rod, bend the rod a bit so that it does. A very common occurrence.
Another thing to check is that the service brake equalizer cross shaft is in the "neutral" position. Sometimes during a "restoration" (that term is to be used advisedly!) it gets set up too far forward so that the vertical arm is almost touching the inside front wall of the center crossmember. That would also account for you not being able to adjust the brake pedal-to-switch rod enough to make contact = the cross shaft's arm is already too far forward.
Yes, photos would help.
Marshall
Click to expand...
Marshall..

Are you saying that the Service Brake Cross Shaft rod levers should be perfectly vertical before assembling the Service brake rods? That's what I did.

Then, when you do this, the rod, that is the subject of this thread, will fit properly?
 
Larry -
Yes. Only the bottom outside arms on the equalizer shaft should be used to set this initial vertical orientation. There are many ways to skin a cat, as they say, but why complicate a relatively simple procedure in setting these arms into a perfect 180 degree orientation? All adjustments after this has been achieved are dependent upon this being done properly. In a system that consists of levers, improper initial set up here will result in either the front or the rear brake actuating arms not receiving the correct travel, while the other receives too much, allowing for hitting obstacles such as the center cross member. But only fractions of an inch one way or another can be critical here.
Marshall
 
Marshall V. Daut said:
Larry -
Yes. Only the bottom outside arms on the equalizer shaft should be used to set this initial vertical orientation. There are many ways to skin a cat, as they say, but why complicate a relatively simple procedure in setting these arms into a perfect 180 degree orientation? All adjustments after this has been achieved are dependent upon this being done properly. In a system that consists of levers, improper initial set up here will result in either the front or the rear brake actuating arms not receiving the correct travel, while the other receives too much, allowing for hitting obstacles such as the center cross member. But only fractions of an inch one way or another can be critical here.
Marshall
Click to expand...
With the operating levers on the front extended as far front as possible, and the rear levers all the way back, adjust the Service Brake Cross Shaft BOTTOM ROD Levers perfectly vertical and assemble and adjust all four Service Brake rods.

Close? Thank you, Marshall..

Larry
 
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