Technical Tech Week: Early Ford Hydraulic Brakes

I'll throw my hat into this, it's simple and can be used over and over instead of just one time. Has it been done before, probably. Anyway, most new brake shoes for Ford brakes are bonded instead of riveted, so for a minute I was just muscling the return spring on with a pair of vice grips since a standard brake spring tool would dig into the linings. The problem is you can damage the spring by putting a flat in it or an unwanted bend, which could lead to failure at the rudest possible moment. My solution was to roll a length of stainless stock to the inner dimension of a standard sized brake drum. Weld the ends, polished it with some emery cloth and put a divot on the outer face for the brake spring pliers to grab onto. The added bonus is that you can lock it in place with the upper shoe adjusters and it stays where it needs to. I thought I had some pics of it in action, but I don't so here it is just laying on the tool box. Works plenty well enough. Enjoy.

 

Nifty and simple. Does exactly what its supposed to do. What's not to like?

 

I quit using the plier type brake spring tool back in the 70's. Get one of these, they work like a charm and don't distort the spring ends. You roll the spring off with the knob end of the tool and use the slim end to lever the spring back on.

 

BTT

 

Maybe I don't know how to use it, but from what I know, that tool is designed for BENDIX style brakes and the OP is talking about LOCKHEED style brakes. The springs design is different, and requires different tools.

 

I had to read this a few times to figure it out and just looked at a loaded backing plate I have, and the light bulb just came on.
Slick idea!

Above pic may help some visualize it, what he’s done is mimic the outer portion of a brake drum

 

Yea it would've made more sense if I had taken pics during the last time I used it, theres not anchor pin on this style brake, the return spring spans between the shoes. It's basically a brake drum without a face.

 

Well it doesn't show the business end, but my buddy took this picture when I did his back brakes.

 

Dang....my aviation retired buddy just tried to give me his rivet tool he'd used for years - I freaked when he said they always did the rivet thing....things you didn't know.