I have a 30 Tudor with hydraulic brakes ( There when I bought it) When I tighten the axle nut to 100+ pounds the drum will not move. It is positioned firmly against the backing plate. If the nut it tightened and then backed off and cotter pinned it moves but will still give a obvious grinding noise as the drum rubs the backing plate. Were the wrong bearings installed? Do I need a shim of some sorts? Anyone ever encountered this problem? Any help appreciated!
drum hitting backing plate
- Thread starter lupie989
- Start date
Jim Brierley
Well-known member
This is a common problem with hydraulic brakes. Mitch//PA has one answer, the quickest and easiest one. The other requires the whole rear end to be disassembled and .090" machined off the ends of the axle housings, this allows the backing plat to sit farther in, and the drum will then clear.
I would not alter the housing but would remove a portion of the backing plate lip that mates close to the drum. You may have to take a significant amount off. I have done these in my lathe before and have also marked around them with thin tape and ground them as evenly as possible. That should take care of the problem. Many think that the hydraulics improve braking on an A. But in my opinion it is a step backward due to all the problems to overcome, and as a restorer it's hard to beat a properly rebuilt and adjusted stock brake system. When all the details are done well, and they are broke in and adjusted properly, they will stop on a dime with a stock restored brake system.
Larry s
Larry s
BILL WILLIAMSON
Well-known member
A brilliant friend was so picky that he actually cut & re-welded his axle housings to make them 1/4" shorter! Bill W. (Reminds me, when I broke my longer left leg, the Dr. set it shorter so I could walk STRAIGHT! Really!!)