MTFCA Forum

Hello,
I wanted to get your advise. On my 27 when the hand brake is in the neutral position the rear brakes are holding. I have lined rear brakes. I assume that they are original brakes that have been lined but I am not certain. With the brake fully forward the cams are level as they should be but with the linings there is not much movement by the hand lever before they start to engage the drums. The only thing I have come up with is to file down the ears on the bands to allow for more slack in the brakes but I thought I would see what y'all thought.

Thanks and God Bless,

Joshua A. Powers

I relined the shoes and replaced cams and cam bushings on my '26 and had a similar condition. There were several contributors. My drums were round but the shoes were not. There was a low spot opposite the cam which created high spots at the top and bottom of the shoes. I had to reshape the shoes to fit perfectly round. My lining job was not perfect either and there were slight gaps between the lining and shoes in a couple of spots. I rubbed soap stone on the drum's contact surface, installed the hub and spun it by hand. Soapstone rubbed onto the lining in high spots. I used a wide woodworking rasp to fair the high spots. The ends of the linings were also sticking up beyond the rivets and rubbing on the drum. I filed them down too. Finally, I have wire wheels and the inner edges of linings were rubbing on the drum where it transitioned from the contact surface and the vertical part of the hub. I filed those edges on the linings to keep from rubbing.

I assume that they are original brakes that have been lined...

No, original brakes are cast iron designed to contact the drum directly. If lining was cobbled onto them the drum wouldn't fit over them.

Adjust the rods to where the brakes are free with the handle straight up and begin to apply as soon as you start to pull it back.

Here is an alternate way to adjust the rod lengths if you want to try it. This method ensures that the rods aren't so long that they push the brake lever away from fully forward in high gear, which can cause clutch slippage in high.

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/50 ... 1420743911

He says he has a '27, Steve - they're factory lined.

Also, the bands are floating not pined to backing plates. If you have the drums/hubs off, make sure the bands are sitting in the little tabs on the backing plate, not riding on the top of them or in front of them.

He says he has a '27, Steve - they're factory lined.

Ooops! I've never had one of those.

On the 26-27 T's I have seen, the lining is woven material, not solid lining. If you have solid lining, it is possibly too thick and needs to be ground down all the way around to fit. Another thing about the rear wheels, is sometimes the end of the axle and/or the inside of the hub are worn causing the hub to ride closer the backing plate than original. In that case, the outside edge of the shoe could contact the drum. When you adjust the brake, push the lever back as far as possible at the backing plate, then with the brake lever all the way forward, adjust the length of the rod so you can get the clevis pin in easily without binding. This will give you the beginning point of the adjustment and in this position the wheels should turn. Note: with both wheels jacked up, even though the transmission will be in high with the lever forward, the wheels will turn through the differential, one wheel turning opposite direction from the other. Now, when you pull back on the pedal, note whether the cam on the shaft moves the clutch lever on the transmission. You should be able to get it into neutral with the wheels still free to turn. Sometimes the lever will be a bit forward from straight up, but that is OK if the cam makes full contact with the bolt. You might even be able to turn the bolt upside down so the head rides on the cam which will give you a bit earlier contact with the cam. Important thing is to be able to have a neutral and a high gear and also be able to apply the brake. After making the above adjustments try, on level ground at a low speed to stop using the parking brake. If it pulls to one side or slides one wheel tighten the opposite side one half turn and try again. Make this adjustment by half turns until you get it to stop straight and both wheels slide with the same amount of pull on the lever.
If you do all the above and you still can't get a free neutral, you will need to grind down the lining. Note, also with new lining, using the parking brake to stop a few times could seat the lining and after that it will work fine. Just don't drive around very far with the brake dragging or it will get too hot and smoke.
Good luck,
Norm

The original post says he assumes they are the original style brake shoes but he’s not for sure.
It could be the brakes shoes need to have the high spot areas turned down a bit. I think Mark Nunn has the right idea of how to go about why they are to tight.
Maybe one of the wheels could be removed and then you could see what the shoes look like.
That would tell you what the high areas look like and how much needs to be removed for a good fit.

Might be as simple as a brake rod adjustment !

Steve - I don't have a T that new either !

Achieving precise handbrake adjustment in combination with the clutch and low gear settings can be a real challenge.
Having one piece brake rods adds to the frustration and I’ve often considered adding a flexible cable or similar at one end of the brake rods.
I have cured all of this by using the Clevis Pin that has a sliding element built into it. (Part # RMB-EZ) simply remove the original
Clevis and while the brake rods are disconnected adjust Low Gear, High Clutch and Bands to specification. Position the handbrake in the vertical position which should give you a very “clean transmission neutral” plus rear brakes should be fully released and wheels spinning freely. Reattach the brake rods and adjust in the usual manner so the brakes will start to apply when the handbrake lever is pulled any further rearward.Having this flexible element there won’t be any resistance moving the
Handbrake lever fully forward into high gear. In some instances, the brake rods prevent the lever moving fully forward and
allowing top gear to be fully engaged to the point that the brakes start to re apply in the reverse direction.
Naturally, the rear drums, shoes, springs and cams need to be the correct size to work correctly.
Just my experience
Alan in Western Australia