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In this Discussion
- Ken U-Tx February 2012
- Marconi February 2012
- Richie February 2012
- RL Chilton February 2012
- terraplane8 February 2012
How to better appreciate Hudson engineering.......
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I was doing a major brake adjustment on a '55 Dodge Royal. Man do I appreciate the wonderful Bendix Dou-Servo Brakes used on Hudson Stepdowns after having a nightmarish session with those funky double cylinder Lockheed front brakes on the old Mopar. The shop manual calls for using a cumbersome shoe centering gauge on these old Mopar front brakes. There are 4 , yes FOUR adjustment points on each front drum, a eccentric cam at center of each shoe, and an anchor bolt that has an eccentric on it that anchors each shoe. The anchor bolts are designed to be adjusted with the drum OFF, the car, in words, normally the bolts cannot be adjusted from the outside of the backing plate. I took the eccentric anchor bolts out and used a Dremel with thick cutoff wheel to grind a screwdriver slot in threaded end all 4 of the anchor bolts, so I could use a wide flat screwdriver to turn the eccentrics from the outer side of the backing plate. The anchor bolt eccentric adjusts the up & down centering of the shoes, while the eccentric cam at center of each shoe adjusts the in & out centering of the shoes as well as the clearance to drum. It took a lot of going back and forth from the cam to the anchor bolt and back to cam , so forth to get the shoes centered and adjusted. Pfft, now I will never complain about having to do a brake job or major adjustment on a Stepdown again!
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It makes you realise just how simple and effective disc brakes are!
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Sounds like the slot trick was the way to go. You woulda worn out your arms putting on and taking off the drums a hundred times before you get them adjusted. Can we say, over-engineered? How did they work when you got finished?
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Russell, I finished up the preliminary adjustment at about 11 PM last night. was tired so will go back this evening to bleed the brakes and then road test, and do any additionally adjustments (I sure hope not!) When I get this out of the way then I can plan on coming down to San Antone. Need to order a universal Sanden compressor bracket from Vintage Air, maybe it would be faster if I have them ship it to your place? then there's the matter of whether Ed can bring his coupe out on a few days notice.
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Ken U-Tx wrote:I was doing a major brake adjustment on a '55 Dodge Royal. Man do I appreciate the wonderful Bendix Dou-Servo Brakes used on Hudson Stepdowns after having a nightmarish session with those funky double cylinder Lockheed front brakes on the old Mopar. The shop manual calls for using a cumbersome shoe centering gauge on these old Mopar front brakes. There are 4 , yes FOUR adjustment points on each front drum, a eccentric cam at center of each shoe, and an anchor bolt that has an eccentric on it that anchors each shoe. The anchor bolts are designed to be adjusted with the drum OFF, the car, in words, normally the bolts cannot be adjusted from the outside of the backing plate. I took the eccentric anchor bolts out and used a Dremel with thick cutoff wheel to grind a screwdriver slot in threaded end all 4 of the anchor bolts, so I could use a wide flat screwdriver to turn the eccentrics from the outer side of the backing plate. The anchor bolt eccentric adjusts the up & down centering of the shoes, while the eccentric cam at center of each shoe adjusts the in & out centering of the shoes as well as the clearance to drum. It took a lot of going back and forth from the cam to the anchor bolt and back to cam , so forth to get the shoes centered and adjusted. Pfft, now I will never complain about having to do a brake job or major adjustment on a Stepdown again!
Ken, they are a pain in the butt to do. There is a special tool made by Amco for adjusting the shoes, and it's very expensive even if you can find one. I have 3 Hudsons a 55 Ford and a 50 Plymouth. The Plymouth brakes are more difficult than the others. I have figured out an easier way to adjust them using a caliper and when finished, the brakes work very well. In my opinion they are over engineered, I'd much rather work on my Hudsons' brakes. Richie. -
RL Chilton wrote:Sounds like the slot trick was the way to go. You woulda worn out your arms putting on and taking off the drums a hundred times before you get them adjusted. Can we say, over-engineered? How did they work when you got finished?
Russell, the Plymouth brakes are difficult to adjust for sure, but when done right they work very well. When not done correctly they are not safe, I know from experience. Richie. -
On the Lockheed brakes the eccentric bolt usually has 2 flats on the outside end, used to adjust them with, I think a 7/16" open end wrench. You're lucky you've got a 55 and not a 56 that's the year Chrysler went to their "center plane" brakes, a real bear to adjust and get any kind of a pedal. They've got to be the worst hydraulic brakes ever put on an american car!
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Ken-
Ed will be fine, but if you send me his # again, I'll call him when you have a date in mind.
I'd say drop ship the part, or, they are in SA, so I could go by and pick it up. Let me know.
