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 General
Application
1967-1972 F-100 Specific
BASIC BRAKE WORK?
Over the 20 some years I have been
working in the automotive hobby, I have learned that the term "Brake
Job" does not mean the same thing to all that perform them. For
some hobbyists, it means the replacement of just the shoes or
pads. In this article you will learn what is required to
successfully complete a true "Brake Job".
Our subject vehicle is a 1969 F-100. In
our project, we will cover the rebuilding of the Bendix style brake. The
Bendix brake is the most widely used style of brake on both classic and
modern vehicles equipped with drum brakes. Shown here is a Bendix
Type 6 Brake.
Though the focus here is on the Ford F-100 , the principles
are the same with most drum brake applications. Even if your classic is equipped with a
different style of brake, such as Wagner or Lockheed, many of the concepts shown here can
be applied to these applications.
Bendix Type 5 Brake
BENDIX
ANATOMY
The TYPE
SIX Bendix Brake with Fixed Anchor & Self-Adjuster is
the brake we will be rebuilding on the F-100. While there are several
variations of this brake, they are all very similar.
In this type brake, the self-adjusting mechanism is attached to the
secondary brake shoes in all four wheels. The mechanism consists of a cable eye, cable,
cable guide which is attached to the secondary shoe, adjusting lever, and spring. The
cable eye is fastened over the anchor pin between the two brake shoe retracting springs.
The cable wraps around the cable guide on the secondary brake shoe and continues down to
the adjusting lever.
The star adjuster spring connects the primary shoe to the adjusting
lever instead of to the secondary shoe as in brakes with no automatic adjusters. The
automatic adjusters operate only when the brakes are applied with the vehicle moving in
reverse direction, and only if the secondary brake shoe moves away from the anchor toward
the brake drum beyond a predetermined point. In other words, whenever the clearance
between the lining and drum has increased sufficiently through lining wear to result in
excessive travel of the secondary shoe.
The movement of the secondary brake shoe away from the anchor pin
allows the cable to pull the adjusting lever in an upward direction against the end of one
of the notches on the star wheel adjuster. The travel of the lever increases as the lining
wear increases and, when the lever can move upward far enough, it passes over the end of
the notch and engages into the next one. When the brakes are released after the car comes
to a complete stop, the spring at the star adjuster pulls the adjusting lever in a
downward direction, turning the star wheel and expanding the brake shoes.
The springs are color coded to
identify their tension rating and placement in the brake. Never discard any
of the helper springs or self-adjuster hardware.  [more]
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