Building brakes

[PaulS]

I am realizing now that I didn't take nearly enough pictures on disassembling...

Anyway, I am starting to do some reassembly. (Finally!)� I'd like to know if I'm doing it right.

My biggest issue right now is that the adjuster cams seem to fit too tightly in the brake pads.� I pretty much had to press them in--which makes trying to turn the anchor pins for adjustment really, really hard.

Placement of eccentrics (with new cylinder and crappy paint job):



Pads, with cams "pressed" in place:


All together:


Is this part right?  The gaps don't look right to me.


And is the bleeder supposed to sit so high--it bottoms out in the cylinder before it even comes close to the backing plate?


I didn't seem to get new cams in the overhaul kit from Walcks, so I wonder if the old ones don't fit properly in the new pads--when I tested them back in the old pads, they rotated freely.  But the tight fit made it a real pain in the butt to reassemble, and I just don't know that adjustment is going to work...

[Bob W]

The cams need to rotate freely in the brake shoe. Probably just need to file the burrs from the inside of the hole.

When the brakes have been adjusted, and the lock nuts tightened, there shouldn't be any gap between the bolt "head" and the tie plate - but the brake shoes should easily rotate back and forth on the cams.

Here in NY everything rusts together about 5 minutes after it's assembled so I use anti-seize paste on all the adjuster components.

The bleeders look fine to me.

[athawk11]

Hi Paul,

Your assembly looks fine.

I agree with Bob.� The tie plate should be sitting flush against the face of the shoe.� I noticed some paint drips on the surface of your backing plate.� If you clean these spots up a little bit, and add a small amount of brake grease, I think they will work better.� I have documented and photographed a complete brake job for the FAQ.� I just haven't gotten it all put together yet.� �� �� �






The bleeder is aftermarket, but I think the larger hex surface might make bleeding brakes a little easier.� The only thing I didn't like about them was they were MM not SAE.� I decided to use the bleeders from my old cylinders.�

Tim

[PaulS]

Thanks guys!  I'll scrape off any paint drips that are in the way of where the shoes move.  And I bought a tube of brake lubricant.  (Hope it's the right stuff!)  I'll file or grind out the holes just enough to allow free motion of the cams.  Hopefully that will be enough for the plate to sit flush.

So why did they make the aftermarket bleeder with metric hex (10 mm) when it has UN threads?  I hate mixing systems. 

-Paul

[Carls_jeep]

I hope you plan to put the forked shaft that goes into the wheel cylinder and pushes on the brake shoes. If not then you will have a serious problem.

[PaulS]

   They're already there.  It's hidden by the rubber boots in the picture, but rest assured, the parts are engaged!  (And I will be doing a good check of the brakes before going on the road--though that may be a couple years in the future...)

[Carls_jeep]

Opps, my mistake, the ear on the shoe goes into the notch in the piston. Had my brake systems mixed up there.

[PaulS]

Is there a trick to getting all the bits back together?  I thought it would be nice to avoid fighting with the spring and put it on first.  But when I did that, I had absolutely no success in getting the anchor pins to go into the cams, with the cams in the holes in the shoes...  I've built two units now, and on both of them, I did the spring last.  And even then, I find it hard to keep all the bits together until the anchor pins are fully seated.  On the last one, I was hoping my swearing wouldn't wake up the kids!  Two more to go.

Grinding out the inside of the hole a bit--essentially, taking off that gold-coloured coating-- made the cams rotate nicely, and everything is fitting together.  I scraped most of the paint of the raised area where the anchor pins go.  (None of the other paint seemed to be an issue.)  I've got brake lube all over that area, and on the edges of the cams.  The shoes and adjusters all move nicely.  And I put anti-seize on the threads of the anchor pins and eccentrics.

[Carls_jeep]

You have to put the spring on last. It's hard to hold the shoes together while doing that but you can do it. The way I did it was to mount the shoes on the backing plate then clamp a visegrip on one end of the spring. Hook the other end in one brake shoe, pull that shoe with the spring and visegrip toward the other shoe while holding that shoe against the adjuster and hook the spring in the hole.

It's not easy but that's the best way to do it. If you can't pull the spring with one hand put your knee against the shoe to be hooked and pull the spring toward that shoe with both hands.

[PaulS]

I have brake spring pliers.  They really help with the leverage, but it still takes a bunch of tries (and swearing) to get the end of the spring into the hole...

[athawk11]

I'm don't own a brake spring tool.  I have to agree with Carl.  The good old fashioned vise grip has been the most effective brake spring tool for me. 

Assembled backing plate on the floor, a knee or a small piece of plywood between your knee and the brake shoes... Insert the first side of the spring. Clamp the vise grip with the handle angling back toward the side that is already inserted. Clamp the vise grip on about an inch from the end end that will be inserted.  Push/tug on the grip to insert the spring into the brake shoe spring hole...done.  Works pretty well.

Tim

[PaulS]

Well, I got all four put together:


The second pair went a lot faster and easier than the first.� And with a lot less swearing. But that may be partially because I had the garage door open...

And I did manage to get the short pad on the left side on two and the right side on two.

This marks a watershed, because it's the first time in this rebuild that something has actually been assembled!

-Paul