Question for the f1 guys...brakes

[Ken Arms]

My 52 f1 has lowsey brakes,you got to stand on them and keep a close eye on the traffic ahead. It has a rebuilt master, new front flex lines and decent shoes. the slaves are new/rebuilt as well. I hate to say it but my buddies 52 chevy pu stops like its got disks compared to the f1. I also notice that if I adjust them they will stay equal for awile and then start pulling hard to the left after awile. The drums are not perfect but they dont seem to be bad enough to be the problem. I wonder if its the type of shoe material? Oh..no air in lines as well. Ken

[1oldtimer]

what does the contact pattern look like on the shoes, maybe the shoes need to be arced...... Also check the hardware.

[gearhead1952]

Have you got a weak spring causing a shoe to drag? How a bout a ridge on the backing plate where the edge of the shoe rides causing it to hang up? Maybe compare the wear on the shoes on both sides of the front. I'm guessing it is the front that is causing the problem? Could pull on the parking brake to see if it is the front or rear causing the pulling. My 52 f1 has very little pedal travel and is very firm.

[mtflat]

Something needs replaced. I replaced the entire brake system on my 48 F1 when I rebuilt the truck 12 years ago. I've made dozens of panic stops for deer and traffic. It will lock all four wheels and slide the 16" radials on dry pavement.

Try new master, new lines, new wheel cylinders and new drums and shoes and spring kit. The one place I won't scrimp on $$ is brakes!

With a helper to pump the brakes, bleed the lines starting at the passenger side rear, driver rear, then pass front and finally driver's front until you get no more air. I bleed my lines with a tube on the bleeder and stick the end in a glass jar so I can see when the bubbles stop coming.

[pauldeborr]

I replaced the whole system on my F-3 with no problems at all. It's all original so no power booster but it stops fine enough for me. The only thing that bothers me is that my emergency brake is not working so I'm hoping I never need that. It's just a matter of running new cables.
I do notice if I havn't driven it in a while that it will pull a little for the first few hits of the brake then it goes away.

Good Luck

[49r]

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I fiddled with my brakes on my '49 F1 for years but never got them sorted until I replaced everything new in one hit. They work as good as my Toyota now ... well, almost.

[Cecil/WV]

The type of lining can make a difference. The harder the lining, the longer wear life and the less stopping power and harder on the drums.

[Ken Arms]

Is there a choice in lining? Are the shoes from back in the day a different material? My dad relined his brakes with leather from horse harness back in WW2 since no parts could be bought, he said it worked great till they got wet!!!

[Shadetree]

Brake linings have been mentioned but a sticking cup in a wheel cylinder makes a big difference in stopping power as it changes the mechanical ratio with the master cylinder. Check too for a blocked brake line as something has changed over the years. I would start with the right front wheel as it pulls to the left when braking.

Thinking more about this, could it be a cup(s) in the right friont wheel cylinder be reaching its maximum travel? When you adjust the brakes you push the cup back into the cylinder, giving you better brakes for a while. Just a thought.

[GreenMonster48]

I got all my stuff from Napa. Very inexpensive and they work fine. The only thing I didn't replace is the drums as they looked pretty good. I likely will replace the drums sooner than later, but I've put on a few hundred miles with no problems. I'd yank the drums and adjust the shoes out until you can barely get the drum back on. I'd try doing that first. Otherwise sounds like you might still have a little air in the lines.

[Ken Arms]

I did adjust up both front brakes to the point that they turn hard until the tire is on, then with tire it feels like hard drag. I also sanded off the glaze on the front shoes and did a 4 wheel bleed, (again). The pedal stops high but then you feel a slight "sink", then one pump brings it up a bit. (very slight). The big problem here is more about stopping power, I feel like the truck should be able to "nose down" if you do a panic stop. I did notice in Macs that they have molded or woven shoes. I will take her out soon for a test to see if my sanding off the glaze made a difference but I dont think it will or it wont last. Ken

[V12Bill]

If they are the self energizing Bendix brakes, you must center the shoe within the drum. On my Lincoln Bendix brakes the adjustment is the top anchor which moves up or down as needed. Adjust so the shoes are in the middle of the drum and they will not pull and will stop you very well.

[Bruce Lancaster]

The early Bendix type brakes require a major adjustment when new shoes go in and minor adjustments thereafter with same shoes.
Most people (except for V12 Bill!) are unaware of the major adjustment, which involves slightly loosening the nut on the anchor pin at the top of the brake assembly and tapping that pin upward to get a minimal clearance at the tops of the shoes. Spec for clearance would be in the manual or in the service bulletins, use .010 if you don't own the basic books.
Once that clearance is set and anchor retightened, then the minor adjustment using the star wheel is performed.
This will get shoes and drums into proper relationship IF the drums and shoes match in their arcs. If shoes do not fit the curvature of drum professional arcing, amateur grinding of ends of shoes, or a long, dangerous wearing in period are needed.

[GreenMonster48]

That slight sink seems like maybe you have a wheel cylinder hanging maybe just on one side of the cylinder. When I first got my truck only one half of one cylinder on the whole truck was working even though the pedal felt strong. Something to think about.

[49r]

The drums must have no question marks. I had mine lathed originally to get rid of the lining rivet grooves and then I had the front right drum crack - fortunately in my driveway and not on the highway. New drums, new system, for me = no problems.

[ford1]

my guess its the master cylinder, it either has a bad check valve or something plugging it not allowing fluid to pass thru the check valve to the wheel cylinders

[PeteVS]

My take on adjusting the "centering" of the shoes is to loosen the top nut and make sure that the anchor pin that it locks in place is free to slide up and down. Then, install the drum and hold it tight with two or more lug nuts. Then, adjust the shoes until they're tight. This will get the shoes tight on the anchor pin and the anchor pin will be in the right position. Then, tighten up the anchor pin nut, and finally, back down on the lower adjuster to get the proper amount of drag. IMHO!

[rotorwrench]

If your drums get worn to an excessive internal diameter, the shoes have to travel too far to apply pressure. I'm not sure how difficult it might be to get F2 type drums but that might be a good part of the problem. The shoes can literaly run plumb off the wear pads on the backing plates and that ain't good. They can hang up in there if this happens. The drums really shouldn't go beyond .090" from stock or you start getting into this problem range. I've seen drums worn as far as .128" from standard and the shoes were walking off the wear pads and hanging up to where they wouldn't return to the normal relaxed position.

[Pacersw]

The new spring kits are made for power brakes....thats probably what you've got.......these tough springs require too much peddle pressure to overcome the spring tension. If you can change out those too-strong springs you will be surprised at how much better your brakes will work.''''''''''''''''

[jerry grayson]

I believe that you have one of two problems. Either you need better adjustment, as mentioned above or you have a flex hose problem. The flex hose can deterorate on the inside where you can not see it and cause a partial "plug" leading to hard stopping and pulling.