Brake shoes - which direction ?

Barry2952: Yes your W/C are backwards ,early Fords big dia is always to the front.

 

Which shoe faces the front of the vehicle?

 

Ok, stop right there!

Early ford are different to the later self energising types (like the illustrations above.).

Early ford have the bigger diameter end of the cylinder and the longer shoe towards the front. This goes for front or rear.

Self energising have the short show towards the front. (BOB Big on back like said above)

The Early Ford brakes shown should have one short shoe and one long one. Looks like 2 long ones both sides. You should cut two back to make short ones.

Edit: replied at the bottom of page 1 without seeing the replies on page 2. Doh!

Mart.

 

nope. think of F1 as the brake line, and F2 as the cylinder, and imagine another F3 even bigger. the force would further reduce every time it got bigger.

 

Is that a factory manual or aftermarket?

 

It's easy---the big shoe chases the little shoe. Just like in real life.

 

Pressure out of a master cylinder will increase as the bore is reduced with a given force input. P = F/A

Force out of a wheel cylinder will increase with a larger bore and given pressure input. F = P x A.

K?

 

On Fords (1948 and back) the long shoe goes to the front. After 48 the short shoe goes to the front.

 

Well

 

Sorry to ask years later, but I came across this issue.
I bought all new shoes for my '65 F-100.
Front brake went on easy, small lining in front large lining in back.

When I looked at the old shoes on the rear, the front lining was short and the rear lining was long.
The replacement shoes had equal length linings and identicle part numbers. Friction material looks the same on all four shoes -they look identicle.

Called the parts guy and he said that a lot of shoes are coming in this way now, not to worry. I tried them and it seems O.k.

Shoud I worry

 

Yep - that's "right" - for a RHD car. I've seen that picture - New Zealand is a RHD country as this is correct for here! Sure does knock your confidence when the manual is arse about face!

 

I'm trying to sort out all this "long shoe, short shoe" business. Is this the correct answer? (I'm working with '46-48 car brakes.)

 

Hey not to highjack this site, but it looks like he has the answer, but how about this, regular points dist. common coil (don't asked internal or external resistor) with the white block bypass resistor, which side of the coil, positive or negative goes to the dist. I can never remember, and can never find it in any motor repair book, when I need it. I am willing to take a verbal beating over this, and after that I will remember....thanks

 

Say what?????

 

...just think of em as "big & littles" as in tires, bigs on the rear.

 

=====
Hi Coconuts,
You really ought to start a new thread about your ignition coil polarity question .

This is how I'd wire it for a Negative ground system.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w164/onlycubcadets/KohlerIGN-1.jpg

regards,

Dan T

 

I get two sets of shoes for the front wheels of self energizing brakes and put long shoes on front and back. might not be needed but in my feeble mind it seems like more shoe equals more stopping power. i have noticed a increased stopping power but then again i had just rebuilt all the brakes too.....

 

Fords 48 and back long shoe to the front. Fords 49 and up short shoe to the front. That's my answer and I'm sticking to it.

 

Thanks, Flathead. I believe you're correct. OK boys, back to the shop.

 

^^^ That's a good way to remember it. I like little tricks like that, good one man.

 

This is something I learned a long time ago and I'll say that some people should not be doing brakes... and this applies to a few people who I've seen that do them for a living.

 

Don't believe so, but it is annoying Remember a pickup (unloaded) is prone to locking up the rears easily?

Ran into the same issue with 64 F100, the replacement shoes for the rears were all the same length (and material) lining, I assumed RA had sent out a mismatched set or return or something.

Went out to an auto parts store and had the clerk pull a couple sets off the shelf and we checked, all of them had the same length lining shoes as well for the rear axle. Front axle sets had both a short and long as advertised.

So I installed them. Not sure why the switch by the manufacturers. Seem to work good, they needed some time to "bed in" and wear all around but that's not news. Right on time, a few weeks later I had a real honest to goodness panic stop situation at highway speed and the truck stopped on a dime, all 4 drums locked up at the end. The servo or "self energizing" feature works good, though with manual brakes it takes a little bit of effort. Very confident in these brakes (now). I spent a small fortune replacing everything but the pedal, and paid for itself in about a half second.

 

BRAKE SCHOOL. Eons ago, when cars had mechanical, then modern hydraulic brakes, there was a steadfast rule.
The longer shoe, (or the one with 'harder lining') went against the ANCHOR PIN.
(car going forward, of course) The smaller shoe acted as a 'servo'. The shoe against the pin was the 'working shoe'. Consider the leverage physics. One quick look will do it.
The previous illustration is of a right rear brake, Bendix type. Note the anchor pin.

 

Ok, now that we have that all sorted, who can tell me why certain models of Packard have shoes 1/4" narrower on the left front than on the right or both rears? The answer after our commercial break...

 

Lower left corner of this picture shows why:

That spring pack within the left rear mounting of the front spring eye does a masterful job of removing shock from the steering wheel should rough conditions or bumps get encountered. The axle will move vs the steering wheel. With the advent of this feature less width was used on the left front shoes to avoid excess (equal) brake friction which would have the vehicle pulling left when braking. Elegantly simple and effective. The brake system is so large as it is that no loss of brake performance will ever be encountered, and the power assist was also welcome with such a heavy car.

 

This seems somewhat related to this thread. I am assembling a 1941 Ford rear axel owner installed under a 1936 1/2 ton pickup in the 50's. I've got a pair of very nice, freshly turned original drums, brand new wheel cylinders, and a set of brand new Drake shoes. They are assembled like the correct side above on Barry2952's '41 pickup and regardless of cam adjustment, the drums won't go over the new shoes. I'd rather not go find a shop that can re-radius the friction material (if anyone even still does that). I am new to early Ford V8 brakes. Is there a trick?

SEVERAL HOURS LATER!

Well, for the benefit of all you virgins out there, 1937 to 1948 Ford rear axels have "FOUR" (4) brake shoe adjusting cams, two that index in the bottom of the shoes and two up near the top that those two big spring retained bolts sticking out of the backing plate adjust! You have to adjust them all to get your new shoes to fit!

Sorry I blew up, but as my signature suggests, good training is never free. This lesson only cost me about 4 hours.

 

37 to 45...46/47/48 had no bottom adjusters just pins.

 

Hard to find someone today to arc the shoes to fit the drums. Sometimes I do it myself with a body file. Alway remember to chamfer the leading edge of each shoe to stop squealing. You don't need to do both edges like the details above show. A wood rasp works pretty good for doing this... Oh yeah don't breathe the dust...good luck.

 

Most shoes are made quite thick as the makers expect the drums to have had one or two skims by now.

Mart.

 

Time to bring this back. I am putting Boling Brothers brakes on my coupe. It does say in the instructions that in the rear the longer lined shoe goes to the rear. Does that mean the front should be the same? I know the early Ford brakes always had the long shoe in the front.