Stopping And Brakes

[JIPJOBXX]

I have always noticed that with my brakes on the old 42 that when I haft to apply the brakes hard that they never feel like there stopping fast enough!  My breaks work great with all four wheel seem to brake even but I have never had them lock up with all four.  I can make them skid when in soft material like dirt, stones or whatever but on asphalt or cement they never do skid.  Is this normal?  I might just be ust to my newer brakes.  What is the stopping distance for an old heavy car like mine say at 35 miles per hour and applying the brakes hard?  Just interested in know? Thanks

 

[P15-D24]

You should be able to lock them up. I would start with a brake shoe adjustment. 

[JIPJOBXX]

I have done this befor and have gone through all the hop's and barrels with minor and major adjustments! I have new shoes, new master cyclinder, new brake lines and maybe its just because of the weight of the car? Like I said what is the proper stopping distance for one of our old rigs? Is there any information on this subject?

[P15-D24]

What I'm saying is if you can't lock then up something is not right. 

[TodFitch]

The 1941 edition of Man and the Motor Car, a drivers education book, has a chart on page 32 showing stopping distances with "figures based on tests of cars having brakes in first class condition and on drive level concrete surfaces." From 50 MPH they show 193 feet of which 55 feet is reaction distance and 138 feet is the actual stopping distance. Here are the other numbers in that chart:

 

20 MPH total 44 ft. (22 reaction, 22 braking)

30 MPH total 83 ft. (33 reaction, 50 braking)

40 MPH total 132 ft. (44 reaction, 88 braking)

50 MPH total 193 ft. (55 reaction, 138 braking)

60 MPH total 264 ft. (66 reaction, 198 braking)

70 MPH total 347 ft. (77 reaction, 270 braking)

 

One issue that will keep you from having the best possible braking is having a different radius on the shoes than on the drums. This can happen if your drums have been turned but you haven't had the shoes ground to match or, as in the mentioned on one of those Chrysler service slide shows, had thicker lining put on to increase the effective shoe radius.