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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Brake Spring

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Brake Spring -- page: 1 2     supereal 12-23-2010 @ 8:13 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Thanks, Dan. We battle poor quality and defective parts at our shop on a regular basis. If a part fails, the owner of the vehicle will blame us, not the vendor, and we will have to redo the job on our dime. For old car parts, we don't even consider buying from several sources that have been a problem. When we contact them, the usual response is "nobody else has complained" or "we don't make them, only sell them". When you find a reliable source, stick with them. All vendors are hurting from the rotten economy, and we want the best ones to survive. trjford8 12-22-2010 @ 8:33 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4214 Joined: Oct 2009 Not all brake return springs are created equal. It's possible that C and G uses another supplier. Actually if you go to a good ACE hardware store you will probably find the correct spring that is made in the USA. I'm not too concerned about the spring being concourse correct. I always use the generic ones sold by Napa Auto Parts or the ones sold in the "Help" packages. They are heavy duty and you can bend them to the correct length and cut off the excess. 35Phaeton 12-22-2010 @ 6:08 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 48 Joined: Oct 2009 In the last few weeks, I too replaced the brake return spring(purchased from Mac's) on my '35 while the body was still off the frame.....Standing along side the frame, I was unable to apply enough hand pressure on the brake pedal to even move it and just assumed if I was sitting in the seat after the body is installed, that it would be normal. After reading Wltr's comment above...it makes me wounder if Mac's are defective??? or do they stretch out in a few weeks of use?? and why would those from C&G be any better ??? don't they all come from the same off-shore supplier?? Jim Stroker 12-21-2010 @ 8:43 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Super: I'll take a locally-based Cessna or Piper over any commercial a/c any day of the week. You are right, Commercial Aviation is profit based, whereas what is left of General Aviation is still governed by the mechanic's maxim: "Would you let your mother fly in it"? The problem of bogus parts; "spurious" (as Ford referenced them) will always plague our hobby because suppliers know that most of their customers are price shoppers. It doesn't make a lot of sense to risk your life and your investment cutting corners on replacement parts. The Club, and particularly the Forum do a great service in exposing those suppliers who go overseas to save a buck. The real dilemma though is sometimes it's the only game in town. Metallurgy, in springs, bearings and other critical load-bearing and driveline components seem to be the biggest area of risk. If these were widely used consumer goods, you'd have the Ralph Nader types screaming for legislation, and the cost of everything would go up. The best way to rid our hobby of this stuff is to keep identifying it, and disseminating that info amongst our fellow V8'ers. This will hopefully send the message to suppliers that we do "network" regarding the quality of their offerings. Super, you have certainly done your share of the workload in revealing bogus parts. supereal 12-20-2010 @ 2:46 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Dan: I wish I could agree with you, but there is a huge problem with bogus plane parts, and that may have contributed to the Rolls "Trent" engine failures because some critical oil line fitting and fan bolts were determined to be the cause of an in-flight emergency. The airlines have "outsourced" much of their maintenance work to third world countries, and the FAA reports that many, if not most, such facilities are inspected only once, if ever, during the year. All of this is to break the airline mechanic's union, of course. I have a friend who works for a large plane parts outfit, and what he tells me makes me want to avoid flying altogether. dansford 12-20-2010 @ 2:12 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 75 Joined: Oct 2009 Thanks for the help all, I bought my return spring from Roy Nacewicz another reliable dealer.Thanks dansford Stroker 12-20-2010 @ 12:08 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Super: I agree that "bogus" parts are a threat to our hobby, and motoring in general; but probably not in FAA certified planes (anything that doesn't have a big EXPERIMENTAL sticker by the cockpit). Aviation replacement parts each carry a unique engraved number that traces the component back to the manufacturer, which is supported with a paper trail not unlike the chain of custody in criminal evidence. A magneto condenser on a Cessna may be virtually the same as the one in a 57 Chevy, but because of the "paperwork" will cost 10 times as much. The mechanic that decides to substitute it and, and the inspector that signs off on it risk facing Federal prison time. Maybe we need something in our hobby like the "Good Housekeeping Seal". The Club would test the product and put a little Blue Ribbon with a V8 sticker on it. supereal 12-20-2010 @ 9:59 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 The brake return springs from C&G hold their shape and tension. See them on page 47 of their on-line catalog (www.cgfordparts.com), part# 48-2472. Many of the springs sold today are apparently foreign made, and no better than just coiled wire. I suspect that the producers never heard of tempering, or knew how to do it. Inferior and counterfeit parts are a plague in this country, and threaten the safety of cars, trucks, and even planes. Wltr_Mitty 12-20-2010 @ 7:01 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 4 Joined: Nov 2009 As mentioned above, try setting the hand brake. Pulling the clevis pins at the wheels will make the job even easier. An installation hook tool fashioned from a coat hanger works best for me. A stiff or strong spring is one thing, but the repop spring sold by Macs is downright incorrect. I've tried installing two of them now, and both times they were so tight that braking safety was severely compromised. Besides, once you get them in, they're completely stretched out of shape. If you can't find the correct spring, my advise would be to pick up a long, generic pedal return spring from the "Help" isle at your favorite parts store and bend it to suit. You'll be much happier with the results. This message was edited by Wltr_Mitty on 12-20-10 @ 7:02 AM supereal 12-19-2010 @ 9:03 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Those springs have two issues: they are strong, and hard to get at from under the car. Sometimes pulling the parking brake lever back as far as it will go will release some of the tension. The suggestion above for using a "come along" to stretch the spring is a new one for me, but makes sense.

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