28-29 Model A rear axle problem

[Tinker]

I noticed that tonight that as I was moving the A a little distance that at low speed/ or idle movement that is would stop quickly. Like I had the E-brake on.

So I jacked up the front of the car to check the brakes. No problem, spin freely. No hangups. Then I jack up the rear, no e-brake and out of gear. Drivers side spins good, made a small adjustment. Passenger side, spin forward okay (some resistance), backwards not at all!

So I'm thinking the rear pass. brakes are hanging up. I have not pulled the drum as of yet, but will tomorrow.

Any thoughts from the brains at Forn Barn? New to the model A's.

[tuneman]

Did tou back off the passenger side brake adjuster? That should give you the answer

[Bubby Sharp in KY]

Tinker, My guess is that the emergency brake carrier is the culprit. There are at least three different ones . 1 plain with no reinforcement , 2 reinforced plain, and # 3 reinforced with tabs to keep emergency band from slipping off. You can weld the tabs to a early carrier to help keep the band from slipping off . Good Luck , Bubby Sharp in KY

[Tinker]

tuneman, yes I did back off the brake adjustment. It would spin forward better but same results backwards.

Bubby Sharp, I guess I'll remove the drum to see what your talking about? Can anyone clarify or elaborate?

I'm hoping it is a brake issue and not a differential problem. That's the reason I'm asking at this time.

[Tom Wesenberg]

I had that same problem one time. I sanded the inside of the drum and fixed the E-brake. I don't recall the exact problem, but the car would only move a few feet backwards and lock up solid. You'll have to pull the rear drum and check it out.

Has this car been driven, and this suddenly showed up, or is this car new to you, or has it just had some work done, or parts changed? Was it washed and some water got inside the drum and caused rust?

[Tom Wesenberg]

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Here's a picture of the rear brake setup on a 1931. Notice the bumps of extra metal which help hold the E-brake band in place. Also after 1928 a plate was riveted to the metal stop tab, thus doubling the thickness. My 1928 has the first style E-brake carrier and when I first bought the car the stop tab was torn and bent down for about an inch.

The E-brake is more of a parking brake than an emergency brake. Because of it's self-energizing design it is quite agressive when applied while the car is moving.

IMPORTANT, I'll have to tell my friend that his E-brake is installed wrong! Notice the offset on the metal tabs near the end of the band. The offset should ride against the carrier, and you can see in this picture that the offset is away from the carrier.

[Tinker]

I have had the car for about 4-5 months. Problem was not there, as I could roll the car without problem by pushing it. I also drive the car 2-3 times a week, some weeks daily. I have been working on various issues all around the car, mostly minor. Replacing a cracked exhaust manifold, exhaust, tightening loose bolts, front wheel bearings, etc.

I recently removed the front brake rods and cleaned them and weld/filled worn areas on the rods. I don't think that the fix to the front brake rods have effected the recent problem. Tension in the rear brake rods are loose, to say, they are not adding any tension to the rear brake arms or binding. Drivers side is fine, just the passenger side has the issue.

[Rowdy]

On the chassis I bought for the delivery sedan, the brakes were supposedly rebuilt I had a simular problem. Someone had welded the wheel studs into the hub instead of swedging them. This ruined the e-brake carriers. Also the rear seals leaked so bad that the NOS linings were completely saturated with 600W. Rod

[Tinker]

Good day. After work I started work on the A. I previously had tried to pull the drum off the rear with little success. I don't know if it was the WD40 over the last couple months I periodicity spayed in the axle key or loosening the axle nut last night and this afternoon driving it to the work area, but the drum just popped right off with hardly any effort.

So this is what I found.


Looks good except a different/weak spring was used on the parking brake unit.


I cleaned up the drum and brakes.


I was happy to finally get at this as I wanted to inspect the bearings and races. Checked out great, I greased the bearings and put it all together without the parking brake band. No hangups.

I will have to get a replacement spring. It looks like part of the parking brake pad tore off, I'll have to address that as well.

I will have to say, success... stage one complete!