Front Brake Operating Wedge/Stud

[Charles Reese]

A recent Ford Barn thread about having a 15 degree forward angle to the brake accentuating arm sent me to my garage for a look-see. Nope, perfectly straight up! New operating pins and a ‘pill’ has the arm in the proper forward tilt. However, I am having trouble with the lower internal mechanism. My January 28 has the early style A2050/2051 operating wedge stud/assembly - when the castle nut allows the cotter pin to install the wedge is either (1) too tight or (2) very loose.

There must have been a good reason for the early style operating wedge assembly/stud to have been replaced (date unknown) with the oblong hole design. Since this does not show and is integral to a good braking system, I wonder if I would be better off replacing them with the later style?

 

[Doug in NJ]

Is that old style meant to "float"? I have never heard of that variety before!

Doug

 

[Ron in Quincy]

Charles,

I have the same style on A1276. When rhe castle nut was tight and keyed the wedge, with the hole, will still move. Possible someone has done some filing on the stud shoulder of A-2051. I don't believe, if you have the early backing plates, you can convert to the later style wedge as the later backing plate hole has a larger hole in the first thickness on metal , so when the later wedge is installed it shoulders so it will not turn in the backing plate; on the early backing plates you have a hole, the same size, thru both pieces of metal.

Ron

Charles,

The more I thought about your problem I suspect you may have the later backing plates ? If the hole in the track is oblong, and the hole in the backing plate is round, then you have the later backing plates and the oblong, later wedge, will work. The double thickness I spoke of above includes the track, and the earlier tracks only had a round hole the same size as the backing plate.

Ron