Taking a break for some brakes.

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by Art Newland

I snugged up brakes and rods and went for a real drive. working much better. I'd like to get 50, 100 miles on it then go through the adjustments outlined in the service bulletins. I think I may need to pull the front drivers back apart and add a shim/pill.

That can be a real pain. I was surprised how far forward 15* is (I used the inclinometer on my iPhone), I ended up needing 2 pills on each side as I recall.

My test to make sure that nothing was rubbing was to drive a small loop near my house with intentionally very little braking. If after pulling into my driveway the brakes were just warm to the touch I declared success. If one is dragging or after a panic stop, they get HOOOT!

As others have said too, important to get them symmetric. The first time I really stomped on it after getting mine rebuilt I was amazed at how hard it pulled. Given that my original brakes didn't do a whole lot to stop the car, they couldn't pull it very hard to one side or the other.

I was also surprised at how powerful the adjustment at the pedal linkage was. A few turns on that guy really made a biiig difference to the total braking performance.

[Art Newland]

Thanks for the insight Ian. Just was thinking, I do dabble a little in CAD drawing, so I made up a simple 15 degree template.

[1955cj5]

Originally Posted by Art Newland

Thanks for the insight Ian. Just was thinking, I do dabble a little in CAD drawing, so I made up a simple 15 degree template.

Good idea.....I used a clear plastic protractor...

The issue was, where is the baseline? Is vertical, plumb, or is it 90° to the frame? Level?

I just tried to get both sides the same.....

I also used pills.

I replaced the kingpins while the brakes were at Randy's and the repro pins are just a little different dimension (larger) between the locking pin groove and the machined face of the upper ball....so longer distance between the brake actuator and the wedge....I used three shims on the kingpin under the upper bearing to get it to ride on the thrust bearing...And two pills in the wedge...

My replacement thrust bearings were the same thickness as the bearings I removed..

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