The Ford Barn

Joeyv · 08-24-2023, 07:11 PM

I was working on adjusting the mechanical brakes on my 36 and found one of the bushings on the cross shaft had deteriorated (totally gone) and the shaft had a lot of slop in it. Fortunately I had a cross shaft on the shelf that I bought from a friend and that shaft was in good condition. I was able to get the old cross shaft out and the replacement shaft in. Both the out and in processes were a real PITA. I loosened the radius rod ball to get a little extra space to work. The process I used to get the new cross shaft return spring was pretty Neanderthal, in my opinion. I used a doubled piece of rebar tie-wire with a loop made on each end. The small loop to pass over the front of the cross shaft and loop over the return spring, and a larger loop to fit over a crow bar, which I used for leverage. I braced flat end of the crowbar in one of the holes in the frame and pushed on the curved end of the crow bar to pull the spring over the cross shaft and hook onto the top pin of the cross shaft. It was not easy. I started out trying to use a screwdriver a single strand wire to pull the spring through. I couldn’t do it, I was not strong enough. I tried using a much larger screwdriver and I still was not strong enough. I “upgraded” to the crow bar and the wire snapped. The double wire and the crow bar did the trick, along with a lot of grunting and snorting on my part. While going through this process I kept thinking there must be a much easier way to do this. Unfortunately my best old Ford lifeline friend that I would call for guidance passed away and others I spoke to either gave up on mechanical brakes and went hydraulic, or never had to swap out the cross shaft. Doing this the way I did would have been easier when I was 50 years younger. I hope I don’t have swap out the cross shaft again any time soon, but if I do, I have a couple of questions.
The obvious question: what is the easiest way to pull out and put in the cross shaft? Should I have pulled the front wishbone?
How does someone with experience pull through and re-attach the spring?
Is there a source for bushing the cross shaft?
As always, I appreciate the advice given here on the Ford Barn.
Thanks

08-24-2023, 07:11 PM	#1
Joeyv Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: San Diego Posts: 52	Mechanical Brakes - Cross Shaft Replacement I was working on adjusting the mechanical brakes on my 36 and found one of the bushings on the cross shaft had deteriorated (totally gone) and the shaft had a lot of slop in it. Fortunately I had a cross shaft on the shelf that I bought from a friend and that shaft was in good condition. I was able to get the old cross shaft out and the replacement shaft in. Both the out and in processes were a real PITA. I loosened the radius rod ball to get a little extra space to work. The process I used to get the new cross shaft return spring was pretty Neanderthal, in my opinion. I used a doubled piece of rebar tie-wire with a loop made on each end. The small loop to pass over the front of the cross shaft and loop over the return spring, and a larger loop to fit over a crow bar, which I used for leverage. I braced flat end of the crowbar in one of the holes in the frame and pushed on the curved end of the crow bar to pull the spring over the cross shaft and hook onto the top pin of the cross shaft. It was not easy. I started out trying to use a screwdriver a single strand wire to pull the spring through. I couldn’t do it, I was not strong enough. I tried using a much larger screwdriver and I still was not strong enough. I “upgraded” to the crow bar and the wire snapped. The double wire and the crow bar did the trick, along with a lot of grunting and snorting on my part. While going through this process I kept thinking there must be a much easier way to do this. Unfortunately my best old Ford lifeline friend that I would call for guidance passed away and others I spoke to either gave up on mechanical brakes and went hydraulic, or never had to swap out the cross shaft. Doing this the way I did would have been easier when I was 50 years younger. I hope I don’t have swap out the cross shaft again any time soon, but if I do, I have a couple of questions. The obvious question: what is the easiest way to pull out and put in the cross shaft? Should I have pulled the front wishbone? How does someone with experience pull through and re-attach the spring? Is there a source for bushing the cross shaft? As always, I appreciate the advice given here on the Ford Barn. Thanks