Arcing brake shoes
 

I have been told that new brake shoes should be arced to match the diameter of the drum. My question is, if the shoe can be held to the inside of the drum and it does not rock off of the high spots nor is there any gap in the middle of the shoe, does it need to be arced? TIA

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

Sounds reasonable to me, using common sense, I'd say no.

Mart.

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

If your drums will go on after the shoes are mounted, you will be OK.

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

I bought a set of shoes for my '37 (with '39-'48 hydraulics) a few years ago. My drums were NOS and they would not fit over the shoes. After a few phone calls I found out that the manufacturer that supplied the shoes to the retailer arced all of the shoes to .030 over and hoped for the best. Maybe you are one of the people that got lucky.

Charlie Stephens

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

Arc the shoes, work smarter not harder, in the end peace of mind, and not a whole lot more money. Just my thought.

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

I was installing/riveting new wire woven shoes on my 33 today, with shoes off the car, I laid the shoes in the drum and the outer top and bottom edge are touching the drum, there is a small gap in the middle of the shoe. My brake guy has a shoe grinder, he will have to grind a small amount off each end correct?

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

Proper arc is such that the center of the shoe makes contact first, then as one applies more pressure, the contact patch increases as the shoe bends into the drum...
When i hold the end of the shoe to the drum surface at one end (maybe 2"-3" from the end, I like to see the other end of the shoe rock from the drum maybe 1/16"... more or less...
These days it's kinda hard to find a shop that a) has the machine and b) doesn't mind breathing the dust...
Karl

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

Some brake riveting machines have a sanding drum on the back of the machine, usually a 3in. drum. That is not an arcking machine. A true ark machine has mic in the handle, you have to mic the drum and then set the ark machine to the drum size, then feed clamped in shoe and move the handle back and forth against the sanding drum, it will take off the high spots untill it's the same ark as the drum. I did many of them years ago. But as they say, it's hard to find a shop that has one nowdays. Walt

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

Yes, he has the vertical sander on the back of his machine, he has to manually move the shoe across the grinder til the shoe fits the contour of the drum.

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

I have two arc tools, an Ammco and a Van Norman. They are both designed so that when the drum diameter is set, ie 11.030", the tool grinds the shoe to that dimension less a few thousands on the top and bottom. This accomplishes what Karl described in his reply and keeps the shoe from grabbing and chattering, which they'll do if too tight at the ends.

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

I think my buddy has the Ammco, As I said earlier, I just put a new set of woven shoes on my 33, the shoes touch at the top and bottom of the drums. How did the early guys fit these? Do you just grind until they fit? I have had trouble with the top adjuster, it will be all the way backed out, and the wheel will still drag. I have all new roller tracks, pins, springs, etc. Hate to grind half of the shoe off to make it work. Thought's ?:(

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

Another method is to find someone with a Barrett Brake doktor ---it arcs the shoes on the car to the axle centerline, first a gauge is set in the drum, then the tool is set and spun around the shoes.

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

What I do with my shoes is, take a piece of sand paper with glue backing, put in inside the drum; place the shoe against it and begin to move the shoe as it would rotate when putting on brakes. It takes time but I don't have any high spots or bumping when applying brakes. Some I know use an archer. they had one at an old NAPA store until a couple of years ago.

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

I like the sandpaper idea. what grit of sand paper do you use?

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

If you replace all your links etc then it willmbe tight if you dont wana grind the shoes then you need to grind the tips the 45% ends of the adjuster links .To Ark your own shoes You can remove the adjuster bolt then screw the squre end in first from the back or get a 5/8 unf bolt ,or get 2 old adjuter links and cut about 1/4 of the ends of .,this lets the shoes come in enough to alow the drums to go on ..then with some 60 grit paper glued to the drum fit them then you turn the drum with a bar through the studs .If all the drums are the same size then do it to all shoes on say one front using thrt drum ,or if you need moter power with the wheels blocked use a rear one and run the moter while screwing up the adjuster (dont get your T shirt screwed up in th studs ),If you want a closer match to your drum ,get a good lot of rust happenihg on your drum with the aide of some solder fluid & water after about a week and a good rust biuld up , drive the car with your foot lightly on the pedal .dust out & Wash out the drums with bakeing soda .For more info do a search of the Model A side I posted this advice there some years ago .

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

I think the biggest problem is the lining being to long on the ends,and should be ground back across on angle depth 1/8 back 3/4".You don,t want the ends to hit and not the middle.
The problem is a anchor up top the lining maybe higher and not let the shoes be in correct postion.This is the way i have been shown and have never had a problem.Any old pics show a camfer on ends.As for the rest they will wear in.

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

If your shoes are touching only at the ends then Like Geoge says you will need to grind until they Fit ,As far as chanfering the ends I personly like as much linnig in use as posable ,Just a little chanfer .If you have fitted new Adjuster links then things will be tight .Specialy with new drums .If your drums are worn you can fit 1/4 inch linnings ,or weld exstend the links ,then Ark the shoes back This keeps things firm .

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

For questions on brakes you could always PM our Fordbarn resident expert, Richard Lacy. He goes by the name Richard(EV8G)

Re: Arcing brake shoes
 

The sandpaper in the drum idea does not do the job correctly. You are not trying to get the radius of the shoes the same as the drum, but the shoes need to be touching in the center and some distance on each end. Others have given this procedure.