48 brakes???

[moparted]

how effective are the front drum brakes?

[desoto1939]

We need to know more specifically what your are trying to ask. The front brakes on my 39 Desoto which have the Lockheed system work very well at stopping the car. You need to remember that these cars do not stop as quickly as a modern car with disk and power brakes.

You should always provide some more space between the other cars when driving. You only have a single line system coming out of the mastercylindar.

Do you have a very soft brake pedal. Also remember these brakes need to be readjusted every couple thousand miles to insure that the travel when pressing the brake pedal is not to great. As the lining wears the distacne from the drum and braking lining is getting wider, you then need to readjust the shoes as a minir adjustement. look in your repair manula regarding brake shoe adjustments.

rich hartung

desoto1939@aol.com

[james curl]

I converted to Old Daddy's disc kit on the front and a 90 Dakota rear end. If you want to buy an Ammco brake adjusting tool then the drums can be kept usable, but all of the drums will need to be removed anytime you need to use the tool. The tools come up on e bay but usually are quite pricey. Pete (Blue Skies) Anderson has the tool and lives in the rockies and says the brakes are just fine using the Acme brake adjusting tool. In defense of my going to disc on the front. I had all new wheel cylinders from Roberts, a new Master Cylinder, all new brake hoses, relined shoes and the drums turned. Tried all of the home made adjusting tricks here on the forum and was never satisfied in their stopping power. I drive mine almost every day on the highway in traffic and if you leave a long enough space to stop a semi will fill it up. Also when going to a show we tour as a group and if you leave a very big space it will be filled and I would not want to run into the back end of someones $35,000 camaro or tri 5 chevy.

Edited September 25, 2009 by james curl

[RobertKB]

I have three old Mopars with drums all around. They are easy to adjust even without the tool mentioned in the above thread. It is certainly the easiest way to do it but is not necessary. I have done the major adjusment on all three of my car without it and my brakes work fine. The minor adjustments mentioned take very little time and you wouldn't use the tool for them. I believe there is a section in the Technical Tips of the forum on how to adjust brakes without the adjustment tool. My brakes all work well although as mentioned they do not work as well as modern brakes. Nothing on our old cars work as well as on new cars as that is the nature of the beast. These cars are 60 years old technology. Drum or disc is a personal choice.

[greg g]

Drum brakes have been used for years, Disc brakes sarted appearing on American cars in he late 60's early 70's so they were stoppig cars here for years. The major advantages of discs are ease of maintanence, their inhearent self ajustment, and thier ability to disapate heat faster then drum thereby being more fade resistant. As far as ultimate stopping power, at least on the first stop wo abs, inthe dry they are probably not fa apart. Trucks, and busses still use front drums for the most part and they seem to stop fine.

So a well maintaned and properly adjusted front drums will stop a car as well as disc brakes, but a pair of ill maintaned, worn nad neglected disc brakes will stop much better than a set of drum brakes in the same shape.

The question almost comes down to economics. An adapter kit and disc brakes added to an old car will probably cost about the same or less than rebuilding the stock system to new. The advantage will become apparent the next time the brakes need service, the disc set up will be much easier and cheaper to deal with.

[Plymouthy Adams]

if your brakes are in good shape and you do drive with some sense of awareness they ought to be adequate...push the envelope..push the risk

I would say that for a working system as in place I would pretty much stick with them till major service time..then you can toss up the costs difference and pros/cons of the swap over...if points is not a concern to you ultimately I think disc would be in your future..for a total make over...the cost are about the same...and while there are methods to adjust the brakes without the special tool..the adjustment is prone to abnormal wear patterns..

[desoto1939]

The brake tool that was mention as the ACME tool is really the Ammco Brake gage. I do have one of these tools and also the miller MT19c with all of the various adapters.

To do a proper full brake adjustement when you have replaced the shoes you should use either of these tools to get the proper arch for the shoes and to elimiate the soft pedal.

I will loan the Ammco tool to anyone that needs the tool but I need a down payment to insure that I get the tool returned. As stated above these tools are getting very expensive to purchase. There is a current Ammco Brake gage on Ebay for 475 and there was another one for over $1000.00

I recently did a demo on both of the brake tools at the AACA convention that was held here in Philadelphia, PA

Contact me if you need to borrow the tool.

rich Hartung

desoto1939@aol.com

[FiredomeVorhese]

Here's a couple questions...

When using the hub puller, what's the best way to finesse it? I was told tighten, pound around edges of drum, loosen, tighten again, repeat.

Do I need to have the brakes bled before I adjust/center the brakes?

What are the specs on using the centering tool... .03" clearance?