1 ton brake pads

[NCSUDucker]

Long story short, truck is running great now and transmission is shifting fine. Drove it pretty much every day last week including picking up about 1200lbs of wood slabs for the side business (fun trip out through the country). We have a new master cylinder as the brakes were loosing pressure before. Everything has been fine for the last 500 miles or so brake wise. Recently the pedal has been getting closer and closer to floor before stopping the truck. Still felt like it was stopping fine, ie the brakes didn't feel soft, but I was loosing more and more pedal. Anyway, I'm going to drop it off at my mechanic and in the event it actually needs shoes I started searching. Only thing I can find is shoes for the 1/2 ton. Anyone know of a source for the 1 ton or have any input on the brake issue?

Thanks in advance,
Brad

And just for fun

[51504bat]

There should be a truck shop locally that could reline your shoes but if not these guys should be able to do the job. Their web site says they reline and arc shoes as well as reline brake drums.


https://www.jgrelining.com/

[tubman]

How about a simple brake adjustment. These brakes need periodic maintenance, unlike those on your DD. Maybe the shoes are just arcing themselves? Have you taken a look at them? That truck looks in pretty nice shape and I'd make sure whether the shoes are as well.

[NCSUDucker]

Originally Posted by tubman

How about a simple brake adjustment. These brakes need periodic maintenance, unlike those on your DD. Maybe the shoes are just arcing themselves? Have you taken a look at them? That truck looks in pretty nice shape and I'd make sure whether the shoes are as well.

Learning as I go, as I've said in previous post, I'm a hell of a woodworker but automotive is new to me granted I'm learning. My thoughts are a brake adjustment since it's still stopping and doesn't seem soft, but just in case it were to need shoes I was going to try and locate them. While it may be simple to a lot of you guys, brakes and steering components are something I'll leave to someone who is competent Appreciate all of the input here for sure. I know I often ask elementary (to some) questions but there is only one way to learn. Kind of like when I started teaching woodworking at the high school, I thought changing a drill or impact driver bit was just common sense and all kids would come in the door knowing how to do so...not the case.

Thanks again,
Brad

[tubman]

I'd try a brake adjustment first. Unlike newer cars (late fifties on up), these older vehicles don't have self-adjusting brakes. They need brake adjustments from time to time to keep the clearances between the shoes and the drums at a reasonable gap. If new shoes were installed during a restoration (or refurbishment) and not "arced" to the drums, they can initially wear quite rapidly as only the high spots are doing the braking.

I can't tell what year your truck is, buy I assume that it has hydraulic brakes from the load you're hauling. (If you have mechanical brakes, you can stop reading now, because I have very little experience with them.) The hydraulic brakes on these Fords can be very easy to do a gross adjustment on. The drum doesn't even have to be removed in most cases. A brake adjustment of this type is beyond the scope of this post, but is well documented many places on this forum. Try it; it may be one of the best, easiest, and cheapest things you can do.

[NCSUDucker]

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Originally Posted by tubman

I'd try a brake adjustment first. Unlike newer cars (late fifties on up), these older vehicles don't have self-adjusting brakes. They need brake adjustments from time to time to keep the clearances between the shoes and the drums at a reasonable gap. If new shoes were installed during a restoration (or refurbishment) and not "arced" to the drums, they can initially wear quite rapidly as only the high spots are doing the braking.

I can't tell what year your truck is, buy I assume that it has hydraulic brakes from the load you're hauling. (If you have mechanical brakes, you can stop reading now, because I have very little experience with them.) The hydraulic brakes on these Fords can be very easy to do a gross adjustment on. The drum doesn't even have to be removed in most cases. A brake adjustment of this type is beyond the scope of this post, but is well documented many places on this forum. Try it; it may be one of the best, easiest, and cheapest things you can do.

Thanks Tub, it's a 39 with hydraulic brakes. It had 12,500 original miles on it when I bought it. No prior knowledge if the brakes had been replaced at some point in it's history or not. That being said, I'm sure it is probably a good idea to pull the hubs and look at the pads/drums/etc but again being a newb I really don't know what I would be looking for other than thickness of pads, uneven, etc.

Been reading and watching a few videos and as you say it doesn't look too bad with minor adjustments being made by the top eccentric adjustment bolts if I'm seeing it correctly. However, a few threads on here mention adjusting the lowers as well.

In adjusting those, do you feel like that would change the amount of pedal travel?

Thanks again,
Brad

[tubman]

At 12,500 miles, the original brake shoes and linings should still have plenty of life left. I would do just the top eccentric bolts first, and see if it makes a difference; I bet it does. Then you can decide if you want to upgrade your skills and attack the anchors and do a complete adjustment. I don't think it would be that big a step.

One piece of advice; keep your original Ford shoes and have them relined when needed. When I did my '51 in '87, I ordered a new set of bonded relined shoes. When I got them the webbing material was too thick to fit the cylinder pins properly. I sent them back and took the original Ford script shoes to a place in town and had them relined with their premium "soft" lining. Other than an adjustment or two, they have been fine since. I pulled the drums to blow the dust out a couple of years ago and everything still looked fine. If you have a chance, use original Ford parts (if possible) rather the new replacements or reproductions. (Plus my car still has script brake shoes.)

[51504bat]

Good info here on adjusting brakes on your '39


https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=310505

[NCSUDucker]

Originally Posted by 51504bat

Good info here on adjusting brakes on your '39


https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=310505

Greatly appreciated!

[rich b]

For in service adjustment of your Lockheed brakes; you only need to use the upper adjusters.

[38 coupe]

If you don't already have a copy I highly recommend getting the reprint 1938-1940 Ford V-8 Service Bulletins. This has the instructions the factory provided to the dealership garages on performing maintenance and repairs to Ford V8s in the later 1930s.
I did a quick internet search and found many different editions of the reprint bulletins. Since these have been available since the 70s you can find good condition versions for very low cost, at the moment I see a hardback available on that auction site for less than $15 including delivery: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw...om=R40&_sop=15

[NCSUDucker]

Originally Posted by 38 coupe

If you don't already have a copy I highly recommend getting the reprint 1938-1940 Ford V-8 Service Bulletins. This has the instructions the factory provided to the dealership garages on performing maintenance and repairs to Ford V8s in the later 1930s.
I did a quick internet search and found many different editions of the reprint bulletins. Since these have been available since the 70s you can find good condition versions for very low cost, at the moment I see a hardback available on that auction site for less than $15 including delivery: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw...om=R40&_sop=15

Thanks for the link!

Originally Posted by rich b

For in service adjustment of your Lockheed brakes; you only need to use the upper adjusters.

Thanks. Unfortunately, I had a rear wheel cylinder leaking and not much left on that shoe. The others had some life remaining but were fragile and flaking. Found the front shoes, wheel cylinders for front and rear, springs and seals from Chuck's Trucks. Rears have to be relined. I've got them at a local big truck shop that does in house lining. They are reaching out to their company that makes the linings to see if the can get a set made. If not I guess I'll do the send off to one of the companies that specializes in vintage brakes. Anyone used a local shop? If so what brake material/friction rating did you guys go with? Anything I should look out for in going this route? I've read a few threads on here especially those on arcing to the drum.

Thanks,
Brad

[Mart]

What you are calling "pads" are referred to as "shoes" in a drum brake application. Not criticising but at least you know something now about the brakes that you did not know before. One step at a time!
Good luck with it.
Mart.