Dumb Drum Brake questions

[Steve Meltzer]

The "expert""who looked over my recently purchased KR said that the parking brake "needed work". (it's not clear what he meant by that; I only have his notes.) I went to pull the drums off the rear wheels, but I needed a wheel puller to get the drum off the left rear. The inside hardware is so beautiful, you could eat right out of the mechanism. I made a minor adjustment to the star on the right and replaced the drum, but on the left I cannot get the drum back on. Thinking that perhaps the shoes needed to be brought in some, I adjusted the star wheel, but still cannot get the drum back on. So my first questions are what did I do wrong and how do I fix this problem?

Part B: There is an adjuster where the cable for the parking brake splits left and right. Do you adjust the parking brake by making both cables equal in tension? I admit, I did not test the parking brake to see if it worked properly or not. (yeah, I should have!) The brake handle itself has good tension when you pull on it, but I don't know if it would hold the car or not.

Thanks for any and all suggestions

steve

[Lincoln tech]

  Take a look at this  and check those park brake cables ,  https://www.saacforum.com/index.php?topic=22842.msg173179#msg173179

[Steve Meltzer]

Thanks for the link, Lincoln tech. Although my hardware was not off-center as in that link, it did make me look again only to find that the shoes were off-center. Specifically that the forward most shoe was several millimeters forward of the placement peg on the backing plate, and also proud of the other side. My picture makes it very clear. With a quick adjustment with the screwdriver, the front most shoe popped into its correct position and of course, the drum went on easily. So, I think I'm all set and thank you very much. steve

[Lincoln tech]

Picture shows typical condition when park brake is engaged , it's exactly what happens , double check that cable for sticking in applied position after the park brake handle is released . Apply and release park brake and see if the drum can be easily removed again.

[Steve Meltzer]

Thank you again, Lincoln Tech, for your prompt response. The picture that I posted WAS with the parking brake released. Though my photo doesn't show it very well, that shoe was elevated, resting upon a ridge on the backing plate. I will revisit the set up tomorrow with the parking brake engaged. With that shoe in its proper position, the drum fit easily onto the backing plate. When I needed a wheel puller to remove that drum, the parking brake was not engaged.

With the parking brake engaged, how do you know that it has symmetrical application and how do you ensure that it does?

Thanks again

Steve

[Steve Meltzer]

OK here are some pictures with the handbrake set. Noticed the gap between the shoe and the parking brake lever. Ii is clearly different and wider on the left, while really nonexistent on the right. This is consistent with being able to put the drum on the right and make it spin fairly easily, and not being able to get the drum on at all on the left. All of his makes sense to me. However, I need to know how to make the adjustment so that they have an equal gap and thus an equal effect when the parking brake is engaged. Here' a picture of what I believe to be the adjusting nut. Is this correct and if it is, I assume that the adjustment must be made with the parking brake unaged.

Thank you,

Steve.

[Steve Meltzer]

Not sure why my other two pictures did not post. Let's try again. s

[CharlesTurner]

Check the pads on the backing plate that the shoe edgess ride on.  If they have deep grooves, can cause the shoes not to retract correctly.

[Lincoln tech]

According to the last 2 pictures ( with park brake set ) looks like left moves but right doesn't , I would take the adjusting nut off and check cable movement by hand at each wheel ( pull the cable while looking at brake shoe position it should move out when pulled and return to original position when released )

[Steve Meltzer]

OK, thanks. That makes sense. Thanks again Steve (By the way, what shop manual would you recommend for this car?)

[Lincoln tech]

OK, thanks. That makes sense. Thanks again Steve (By the way, what shop manual would you recommend for this car?)

Most of info you can find online these days , having the pleasure of working at Ford dealers for almost 50 years I'm working out of my old head. Keep us posted .

[Bob Gaines]

OK, thanks. That makes sense. Thanks again Steve (By the way, what shop manual would you recommend for this car?

The 1968 Ford shop manual should be mandatory in your automotive library given the car you own. It is typically available in reprint at larger Mustang vendors.

[Steve Meltzer]

Thatsa what I thought, but wanted to check. I've never been a big fan of the Chilton books, probably because I don't know enough to be able to follow them. Kind of like the "dummy books" where you already need to know a fair amount for them to be useful. Steve

[Steve Meltzer]

 The brakes are all fine, parking brake is good, and all is well with the world of stopping the car. What started all of this, or at least part of it, was this grease/oil that I found on the inside of both rear wheels. I figured it was most likely the wheel cylinders, and thus went on that search. As it turns out, it was not the wheel cylinders at all, but rather the axle gaskets. It was not brake fluid. It was axle grease. Problem solved. Onward with the frogs. Thanks everybody Steve

[Lincoln tech]

Ok !!! There is a big difference between brake fluid and gear oil , brake fluid will dissolve with water ( and turn white ) oil will not .