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Posted By Discussion Topic: 1939 Ford brake adjustment -- page: 1 2     1939ute 05-23-2016 @ 5:10 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 80 Joined: Apr 2010 Hello all, I live in Adelaide South Australia and I've had my 1939 Ford 91A Deluxe Ute front brakes refurbished (new moulded brake linings, wheel cylinders overhauled and replaced both front brake hoses)! I've had the shoes and cylinders reassembled, both front brake hoses fitted, adjusted and bled all 4 wheels but I now have a spongy pedal! All work was done by a qualified mechanic but after many $'s spent without success, I'm wondering if anyone has any clues on what we may have overlooked or could forward an attachment of the correct brake adjusting procedures? I should add that the vehicle has only done some 500 miles since being totally restored and the reason for the work was because the front left brakes locked up! My thanks in advance! Cheers, John This message was edited by 1939ute on 5-28-16 @ 7:25 AM CharlieStephens 05-23-2016 @ 6:06 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 893 Joined: Oct 2009 Did you arc the shoes to the drums? Charlie Stephens 1939ute 05-23-2016 @ 10:35 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 80 Joined: Apr 2010 Thanks for your reply Charlie, as I said I had a qualified mechanic working on the brakes and we did discuss how we thought it should be done and while I didn't say to arc the shoes to the drums, we did talk about how we get them out snugly to the drums but I didn't stand over his shoulder while he did it! If that's what I have to do then, that's what I'll do! I'll call him back to have another chat and look at how it was done but in the meantime, I'm asking around to get it right in my head! I know that's what I should have done in the first place but I was assured that it would be and was done correctly! Cheers, John MG 05-23-2016 @ 10:50 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1260 Joined: Nov 2009 What type brake fluid are you using? Silicon?. A friend of mine recently used DOT 5 silicon brake fluid and experienced very spongy brakes.... "Silicone based fluid is more compressible than glycol based fluid, leading to spongy feeling brakes." This message was edited by MG on 5-24-16 @ 12:03 AM 1939ute 05-23-2016 @ 11:19 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 80 Joined: Apr 2010 Thanks for your reply Senior, we used Valvoline dot 4 fluid which is a low water absorption high temperature resistant disc and drum brake fluid! I do hope this is an acceptable type fluid for this application! Cheers, John This message was edited by 1939ute on 5-24-16 @ 12:07 AM 40 Coupe 05-24-2016 @ 3:54 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1678 Joined: Oct 2009 Do the mechanical adjustment and get the shoes very close to the finished adjustment before bleeding the brakes. I do not believe that Silicone brake fluid is any more compressible than DOT 3-4 but it does have the ability to trap more air in bubbles longer. For this reason a bit more care not to agitate the fluid is needed. Any of the modern brake fluids work very well DOT 3-4-5 1939ute 05-24-2016 @ 4:44 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 80 Joined: Apr 2010 Hello 40Coupe, thanks for your reply, I'm not sure about the correct brake fluid to use and I'm open minded and pleased to receive opinions! Thanks for the brake adjustment attachment, I'm sure it'll help me establish what I need do to rectify this issue! I love the old Ford V8's and I'm always learning!! Cheers, John This message was edited by 1939ute on 5-24-16 @ 5:31 AM CharlieStephens 05-24-2016 @ 5:40 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 893 Joined: Oct 2009 John, What is happening here in the states (and maybe in Australia) is that the laws regarding the dust emitted from the brake shoe arching machines are so strict that most shops have abandoned their machines rather than upgrade them. We have to get back to the company that relined the shoes or find someone that has spent the money to upgrade their equipment (few and far between). With the popularity of disc brakes that don't require and "arcing" the demand for the service is small and shops tend to tell the customer to "let the shoes wear in", not a good approach in my opinion. Charlie Stephens TomO 05-24-2016 @ 8:53 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7256 Joined: Oct 2009 You should have the mechanic measure the drums. If they are .060 or greater over size, then you need oversized linings and they will need to be arced to the drum. A spongy pedal usually means that there is still some air in the system or that the master cylinder is not performing correctly. Here is Ford's method of adjustment for the brakes. Tom This message was edited by TomO on 5-24-16 @ 8:58 AM CharlieStephens 05-24-2016 @ 9:09 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 893 Joined: Oct 2009 Tom, I would like to respectfully disagree with you . In my opinion if the drums are .060 or greater oversize they should be replaced. This becomes more true depending upon how much "greater" is. A question for John, do they have any laws in Australia about how much oversize you can turn a drum? Charlie Stephens

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