to STAKEBED message about AA brakes

AA Ford Discussion Group relating to the repair and restoration of your AA Ford.
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birdacre
Posts: 480
Joined: October 8th, 2013, 2:37 pm
Body Type: AA express
Model Year: 1928

to STAKEBED message about AA brakes

Post by birdacre »

good advice. i used your method and found a real problem. one side just as you described, lever is 15 degrees from plumb and locks up slightly before 90 degrees whan pulled to the front of vehicle. the other side is total opposite. lever wants to return forward when rods disconnected, locks up when lever is pushed back. complete opposite of passenger side. so.... is it possible the lever was put in wrong postion, i assume the shaft is splined? or is this a passenger side lever on the wrong side? are they interchangable. just like to do my research before even taking drum off the mess with it. your insight appreciated. thank you, kevin
Stakebed
Posts: 1223
Joined: June 14th, 2007, 7:29 pm
Body Type: Grainbox
Model Year: 1929
Location: Illinois

Re: to STAKEBED message about AA brakes

Post by Stakebed »

Hmm...

the brake rods are always pulled to the center of the vehicle to engage all the brakes.

if your brake arm needs to be pushed away i think someone installed something backwards inside the drum.

that cam can be put in backwards and if the previous guy was mirroring the drivers side he did put it in backwards. The arm is splined BUT that wont affect the way it operates just positioning.

So yea pull the drum and see what you got. Sometimes removign the nut and lightly rocking the drum can get it to budge off - sometimes it needs a puller...

Remove brake rods and fully loosten the wedge on the backing plate and hope you and wiggle it off. Dont go bonkers smacking it as you can distort the drum.

Someone could have restored 2 drivers side backing plates - dont ask how I know that haha :roll: :lol:
birdacre
Posts: 480
Joined: October 8th, 2013, 2:37 pm
Body Type: AA express
Model Year: 1928

Re: to STAKEBED message about AA brakes

Post by birdacre »

hopefully the cam is in backwards. the fronts are all new never used, the rears look to be new but maybe 30 years of dust and dirt on them like they sat open in a barn. i will take a look at the cam. is it easy to reverse, just pull springs and switch??
Stakebed
Posts: 1223
Joined: June 14th, 2007, 7:29 pm
Body Type: Grainbox
Model Year: 1929
Location: Illinois

Re: to STAKEBED message about AA brakes

Post by Stakebed »

yea, once the drum is off remove the emergency brake carrier (it will be obvious) then the service brakes will be open. lightly pull the lever to observe how it works. My guess the cam is in wrong and flip whatever needs to be flipped to get it to work opposite - no need to put the drum back on to observe the operation (just slightly move the lever just enough to see and understand the operation - in actual use the shoes only move a hair amount to activate)

There really isnt much going on in there. Just make sure the shoe pins are in correctly for the rollers and are sliding on groove free backing plates and the cam is in correctly. Lightly grease every contact point and moving thing in there.
birdacre
Posts: 480
Joined: October 8th, 2013, 2:37 pm
Body Type: AA express
Model Year: 1928

Re: to STAKEBED message about AA brakes

Post by birdacre »

thank you, you are a 28 ford AA brake angel. will keep you posted.
Stakebed
Posts: 1223
Joined: June 14th, 2007, 7:29 pm
Body Type: Grainbox
Model Year: 1929
Location: Illinois

Re: to STAKEBED message about AA brakes

Post by Stakebed »

ohh if its a 28 without emergency brakes it will be even easier - no emergency brake carrier to worry about.
birdacre
Posts: 480
Joined: October 8th, 2013, 2:37 pm
Body Type: AA express
Model Year: 1928

Re: to STAKEBED message about AA brakes

Post by birdacre »

it is a late 28 with emergency brake separate, so i took it apart and found that the cam had gone beyond the high point being pulled to the front of the vehicle to fit rods that are too short. when pushed back it hit the high spot for a second and then rode back down where it is supposed to be. now it locks wheel up with the slightest movement forward. so.... the two rods i have are 36 inch long eyelet center to end. i see in shields book the rods should be 38 inch long to rear axle. must be my problem. does this sound accurate. hope so... an easy fix after a pain in the neck afternoon in high humidity but worth it. thanks and share your ideas if you will, kevin
Stakebed
Posts: 1223
Joined: June 14th, 2007, 7:29 pm
Body Type: Grainbox
Model Year: 1929
Location: Illinois

Re: to STAKEBED message about AA brakes

Post by Stakebed »

wonder how that happened... maybe someone operated the brakes without adjusting the wedge first?
anyways glad it was something simple.

hmm you should have a non adjustable rod from the cross shaft to a intermediate lever dohicky that your threaded rod attaches to. There should be a spring from the rear spring pivot point to the dohicky arm to help retract the rods and anti rattle.

Are you sure your rods are too short? i know the rear brake arms are boomerang shaped so the eye itself should be about 15* tilted back. Might have to move 1 spline to achieve this. can you post a pic of the brakes from the worm perspective?
birdacre
Posts: 480
Joined: October 8th, 2013, 2:37 pm
Body Type: AA express
Model Year: 1928

Re: to STAKEBED message about AA brakes

Post by birdacre »

the setup you describe is exactly what i have. the levers are pitched forward 15 degrees, if anything a bit more. one rod was 1.5 inches shorter than the other, this is the one that had the lever working backwards. i could have sworn the other lever was about a heavy 15 degrees pitched forward when i pulled the clevice pin. now it is way to short, maybe it was a lot more forward than i realized. i will try to post a photo. not real good with the camera and posting. i do see in shields book it says that the rod from the doo hickey to the rear axle is 38 inches long, mine are about 36. do you know of a vendor for these AA rods. snyders has some almost 40 inches, i could could cut them down and re tread if needed, any ideas, thank you, kevin
Bob C
Posts: 1442
Joined: April 24th, 2003, 11:50 am
Body Type: Mail truck, Stake tr
Model Year: 1931
Location: SO CAL

Re: to STAKEBED message about AA brakes

Post by Bob C »

The parts book show the rod from the rocker to the rear brake arm is 38".
They show two from the brake cross shaft to the rocker, 39.5" or 38 5/8"

Bob
Stakebed
Posts: 1223
Joined: June 14th, 2007, 7:29 pm
Body Type: Grainbox
Model Year: 1929
Location: Illinois

Re: to STAKEBED message about AA brakes

Post by Stakebed »

yea noone reproduces any part of the rear rods on 28/29's... Let me look tommorow i will see what i got but dont count on it...

But yea you may have to buy new rods and cut and thread and remove the upset for the anti rattle or maybe someones got some worn out "cut too short" standard A brake rods you could have.

common practice was instead of properly rebuilding brakes/replacing worn out parts/ weld and grinding old parts it was to cut the rod shorter and thread more when too much slop developed...
birdacre
Posts: 480
Joined: October 8th, 2013, 2:37 pm
Body Type: AA express
Model Year: 1928

Re: to STAKEBED message about AA brakes

Post by birdacre »

is the thing a ma jig what you call the rocker. i found two old rods and cut them to lenth and threaded the ends. made them 39 for extra safety, then the clevice will give me the total length. i will keep you posted. thank you. kevin
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