1928 brake rod

[Chris Haynes]

I was looking at this picture of a 1928 AA for sale in Detroit. I noticed the brake rod with a dog leg in it. Is that stock? What would keep the rod from flexing?

[vtwinsideways]

What would keep the rod from flexing?

Nothing but the strength of the material. Since it is a pull system it probably still works ok, but it should have an adverse affect on the adjusting as well as how "stiff" the pedal is. Doesn't seem like a good idea to me (non-expert.) It may have been done to accomodate oversized tires. Luke

[Harry Lipki]

I agree with Luke .. Our Pepsi truck tires rub the linkage -- I modified slightly ( small bend ) so the lugs won't hit

[Shorthaul]

Brake rod flex, fender damage. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

[Chris Haynes]

Brake rod flex, fender damage. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

I am sure the fender damage happened in the apple orchard this truck came from. All in all it is a nice specimen. Many of the parts like headlamps, doors, ETC. had beed removed for work in the orchard. They were still in the barn when the truck was found. There had been a second AA sold earlier. I guess the correct doors for this one went with it.

[tiredtruckrestorer]

It is not really a good idea to put a bend in the brake rods. This is sometimes also found if the brake rod was streched and out of adjustment threads, so a bend was put in the rods. The bend trys to straighten out under pressure, and as Luke pointed out, can give you a "soft" pedal feel with a loss of braking pressure exerted to that brake. If your regular size tires hit the rods, check the kingpin lock bolt nut. Sometimes aftermarket kingpin kits contain a regular nut instead of the special long nut that Ford used that acted as a spindle stop also. The Model A kingpin locking pin nut was 1 5/32" long. The AA nut was 1/8" longer and measured 1 9/32" long. Also make sure the lock washer is used, because that affects the overall length of the spindle stop. Worn kingpin bushings can also cause the spindle to shift out of alignment and let the tires hit the brake rods.

Keith