Back in the early 60's, my uncle had a "power wagon" that he used on construction sites. Was sent to pick it up and drive it back to the shop. +- 40 miles, one way. The gas gauge didn't work and I was told "there's plenty of gas in the tank". Just as I got on the San Mateo Bridge (under construction at the time and +- 8 miles long), it ran out of gas. Trying to rev the motor and "pop" the clutch to get it moved out of the way, I broke the "U"-joint. The guy that had dropped me off (to pick it up) was IN FRONT of me so he had to go across and come back for me. I had crawled underneath and removed the driveshaft. Towed that thing with a rope the next 30 miles back to the shop with a 49 Ford 1/2 ton pickup. The Highway Patrol kicked us off the freeway so we had to go the rest of the way on "city streets". Was a bear keeping that rope tight!! "Fun Day"!!!
Howdy; Great videos, just like standing around the shop and watching... I also learned about the brakes on my 1969 Dodge W200 Power Wagon. Keep up the good work. Happy trails, Skip
+Dale Sakawsky only three of your engines DNF ed ?? Heck ..as they used to say in formula 1 ..you aint pushing it hard enough LOL they used to have qualifying engines in the turbo era where they called em hand grenade engines ..if they lasted past the finish line without blowing up ..wow :)
"Kids" haven't changed-I learned it in a book,therefore I am attitude.That kid IS "a special TOOL". When all I've got is a hammer,everything starts to look like nails to me.Hey kids,If you need a special tool,grab some "re-purposing material" from the "recycling"pile,put it in the lathe or mill,and MAKE ONE! Hey Mr., where'd ya get that neat big wrench thingy to tighten that wheel nut gizmo?GEEEEZZE!!! Thanks for the vids Jeff,put the wet stuff on the hot stuff,and stay safe Brother!
+mrbakerskatz (I can't tell if you're being sarcastic; if not continue reading) It's not a torque wrench. He's "clicking" to indicate he thinks it's tight enough, or to indicate his arm's the torque wrench instead. I find it pretty amusing myself.
I always like to lend a helping hand..... 1. Right-hand shoe and retainer....2. Spring connected to right shoe and left shoe, insert top of left shoe into wheel cylinder....3. Left-hand shoe retainer...then the rest.....with or without special retainer tool, which I do own and have in a safe place BTW... The newfangled GM rear brakes, at least mid-late 90's GM, rather than using the simple retainers, use some sort of serpentine du Sade single torsion bar spring which almost guarantees multiple busted knuckles trying to stretch them. I made a special tool with thick wire T'd to a small chisel to stretch those nasty things into place
I wondered if it might be a good idea to mention after mentioning to mention you pre-packed those bearings and then a thought occurred to me that the bearings would be bathed in gear oil not requiring grease but a lil grease will ease installation of the bearing and retainers. good guess??? this IS run-on-sentence Friday ya know?
That's a nice job for something that's never leaving the farm. I was running with brake linings epoxied to the shoes on my snowplow for a few years. Heck, by my account this is a proper job!
Theses videos have been absolutely invaluable to me! As well as entertaining! I just got a 1950 Dodge Power Wagon, just started working on it. My videos maybe not quite as entertaining but maybe will encourage somebody.
World’s Biggest Pickup Truck has a House Inside - “1950 Dodge Power Wagon” Read more at: speedsociety.com/worlds-biggest-pickup-truck-has-a-house-inside-1950-dodge-power-wagon/ I know yours is not a Power Wagon, but thought you'd find it interesting.
I had to laugh at the "special" tool story. I always used a flathead screw driver and pliers. Never even saw the special tool until AIT in '96. Did plenty of brake jobs on my '69 elCamino and '71 Cutlass. Both of which were 4 wheel drums.
As others have mentioned, back in the day, a good brake job included turning the drums, "arc'ing" the shoes to match the diameter of the drums, replacing the springs (hardware). Of course, cylinders if they were required. These days I'm told, you can't find any shops that will "arc" brake shoes. Don't know if it's some kind of liability issue or the dust or ??? BTW, you never mentioned the braking surface inside the drums. Was it "good" or was it a "never mind, it's never going to leave the farm" decision.
Well, on the part of needing a new drum.... I don't think the army mechanics back ww2 thought it needed new drums either.... the fastest those truck probably ever went was 45.... and I sure as hell wouldn't want to go that fast in that truck, on small, dirt french roads.
As an older gentleman once taught me, there is the right way, the wrong way and the German way of torqueing stuff down Jeff. We know the right and wrong way, but I was intrigued by the German way. So he grabs a wrench and hunkers down on a bolt and goes "there, the German way.....goodntight (gutentite). I often used the German way and see you are using a variation of it. Good man.
cold the drum what is rog diyamtert and thiknes of pads and thay been put on the rong place and mabey its spost to be the front drumm but got mixt up of drumds over time all ways triy swaping them over ?
+craigybus1 Oh man... You're giving me ideas... Oh... Oh.... What would Scotty Kilmer do... Now I'll have to actually watch a number of his episodes and find some tiny dark spectacles.
Jeff I was wondering why you had to centralize the brake shoes then fill the lines with fluid ? Surely it would be easier to fill the lines with fluid then stomp on the pedal a couple of times then set the clearance. Cheers Eric
+midgoog2 The anchor pin is just that. Anchored. The anchor is adjusted so that there is .006 between the lining and drum. This determines clearance at the fulcrum. When you move the shoe outward, the piston end will obviously move farther than the fulcrum end. When you set the clearance at the piston end to .012, you make the largest area of contact available when applying pressure. If the anchor were .012 away, then the shoe would contact only the upper section, resulting in 50% loss of braking contact area. In theory, the drum and the lining are parallel. If you imagine them being straight instead of round, then you would have 2 parallel lines. With one having a fixed end and a movable end, then you can see how moving the fixed end away will cause a greater angle at the contact end, thereby reducing the area of actual contact. So, in effect, "centralizing" the brake shoe is making it parallel with the drum surface.
I could use that tool you made for my 1958 :-) All the premade ones I bought have too much outside diameter to fit. Good video and thanks again for sharing.
