Adjusting Brakes for a 39 – 41 Ford

[gvgehrig]

Need help; can’t seem to get it right. First, both lower cams must be turned in wrong direction approximately 45 degrees to get the hub to mount, and they have very little movement either way before locking the drum. Second, the instructions and theory on how to adjust is straight forward – adjust the bottom then the top, then repeat until the shoe is centered. When I do it, I have to turn the bottom cams in the wrong direction to get the drum to spin and the top cam does not seem to adjust much at all, requiring a large amount of turning. Worse the sweet spot seems to keep changing. I can adjust the top cam until the drum stops, back off, then try to return to the same position to stop the rotation, but I must go to another position to stop the rotation. For some reason, the rear brakes seem to be working properly, but the front brakes do not hold their adjustment. After doing the best I can and taking it out for a test drive, the front brakes need adjusting again, putting me back to square one, i.e. I am not making any progress. I’ve pulled the whole thing apart, studied how it works, verified all parts are serviceable, and I can not determine why I can’t get a predictable outcome when making adjustments. Any ideas? Thanks