BRAKE BANDS FOR 1923 GRAHAM TRUCK.

I need to make some new outer steel brake bands for my 1923 Graham truck, these bands have the brake linings riveted to them. Question, are these bands made of spring steel, or are they made of mild steel? Also, does anyone have any spare parts for my truck? i.e. good brake drums, split rims for the rear wheels,hub cap for the rear wheel,and a contact to buy tyres at "the right price".

thanks, Brian.

Brian

What size of truck is it? (i.e. 3/4, 1 ton) My dodge is a 3/4, and I will check to see if the brakes are mild or heat treated. As for the tires, COKER is where I bought my tires from. You can go to your local DISCOUNT TIRE STORE and order tires, tubes and flaps. You will need all three. Take it from me a veteran of 3 or 4 flat repairs in that many miles on one car rally. It got old real fast. As for brake drums. Romar or Roy Brister can help with the parts.

Romar Inc.

1-814-827-7601

Roy Brister

916-973-9778

Reuel

Thankyou mrgearhead, my Graham is a 1 1/2 ton fire engine, with single drum(inside-outside) brakes.And as i'm from across the waters, just north of the south pole,I would like to contact these parts people by email,can you supply their email address for me please? could you look at my other question below about oil seals and give me your best advise on this one as well please? Cheers Brian.

Brian

I am not real familiar with the 1 ½ ton rear axle but if its some what similar to the ¾ ton then after you remove the axles you will fine a tin cover. Behind the tin are two or three round washers made of soft felt. After 80 years they are oil soaked and usually hard. Carefully remove them and wash in solvent, gas, or kerosene. Re-oil them with motor oil and put them back in. Before re oiling measure the outside diameter and inside diameter and thickness. This way you can if they have them order them from Romar or Roy Brister. If not I just bought me a sheet and made my own. If they crumble when you remove them the felt is about ½ in (12 mm) thick. The hole is about 1/32 (.8 mm) smaller and the outside diameter is about 1/32 (.8 mm) bigger. It is very important to oil before installation. Next the old 600 weight oil will lube the rear end gears and bearings and the housing will sweat oil like it was designed to do. The brake rods depend on that oil. This is old technology and what we today call a leak was called sweating oil. If oil is sweating out dirt can?t go up stream.

Here are the e-mail addresses.

Roy Brister screenside@aol.com

Romar romar@mail.usachoice.net

Reuel

I hope I haven?t bored you.

Thanks Reuel for your advise, and by the way, you don't bore me with technical jargon, it's good for the mind. I was thinking that oil rather than grease for the diff would be better for it. The truck has only done 1928 miles from new,and i'm sure I would rather fill it with oil. The old grease has been cleaned out now. Maybe, as I saw somewhere else, I should use very thick oil for this, got any ideas what grade I should use? Today I removed one axle and could see a felt washer in the diff housing, just inboard of the 2" wide bearing. There was another one on the outside bolt on cover that holds the bearing from falling out. I'll remove these felts and check them for wear and re oil them and use the correct oil.

Also, the brake bands are made of spring steel. I'm getting new ones made and i'll rivet the old fittings onto it.

You don't know of any other rear wheel and brake parts around do you?

Cheers Brian.

Brian

The oil that goes I the rear axle and transmission I MOBILE 600 W cylinder oil. For me I purchase it in large bulk containers, i.e. 5 gallon (19 liter) bucket. Don?t worry that this seems like quite a lot. It isn?t because once you fill the trans and rear end you will find that twice a season these beasts will need topping off. Also I have found friends in the hobby that have needed goodies you can trade for. I hope you drive and enjoy this old beast as much as I do my truck. Just in case the old dodge engine likes modern detergent oil. There is nothing but steel, brass and Babbitt in that power plant. Other brands such as Ford model T must use non detergent because the magneto on the fly wheel is in the oil. The modern detergents eat the insulation on the magneto. Dodge does not have and internal magneto. Just drop the oil pan and clean out the old black whip creamy oil from the pant and wipe the block with a wet rag dipped in kerosene. Bolt the pan back on and you?re set. If you need I can help with how to prime the oil system. Let me know?

Cheers got to go lunch is over.

Reuel

Model Ts can use detergent oil in fact it is recommend that you use detergent oil. All the detergent oil does is suspend the dirt in the oil but it does not clean the engine and remove varnish as was once suspected. I run single wgt 30 in my 1916 T and have never had a problem.

Thanks

Jan

Hi Reuel and Jan, Thanks for your input about the oil. 600w must be quite a thick oil, good for the diff but is it not too thick for the gear box? I'm wondering if the oil will get into the bushes of the shafts. Jan, you mentioned you use 30w oil for your motor. In New Zealand, where i'm from, we mostly have multigrade oils such as 30/40, 15/50 etc. I guess that I should be useing a thicker oil rather than a thin oil and definately use a detergent oil. Would I use a aynthetic oil for my motor?

Reuel, i'm thinking that you have a 3/4 ton pickup, sounds like you use yours a lot and enjoy driving it. My 1 1/2 ton fire engine is about 80% finnished and I can't wait to have it completed and on the road. It looks awsome and when I get it sign written and with the gold pin stipes on it, it will look magical. During summer I may even use it as my work vehicle for my electrical trade.

Cheers Brian.

Brian:

I prefer a single weight oil because I only drive in the summer. You can use multi wgt without a problem. I use 30 wt in my 16 Model T and 40 Wt in my 1923 Dodge Screenside. I would not use a synthetic oil as they have a way of getting past seals and you are going to have a leakage problem anyway. Hope this helps and post some pictures of your fire engine. Do you belong to the Dodge Club?

Jan

Brian and Jan

I stand corrected. Please keep it a secret that ?Joe know it all? doesn?t. I to would enjoy seeing the photos of both trucks, Jan?s and yours. As Jan mentioned these old vehicles sweat oil. The thick 600 weight will work just fine in you transmission. In fact when I switched from 90 weight to the 600 weight it actually made shifting easier. This is because when you double clutch the thicker oil slows the gears down quicker.

Well got to go, cheers

Reuel (rule)

Good to hear from you again Jan and Reuel.Sounds good for me about the 600weight oil, i'll stick with it, and 30 or 40 grade for the motor. Don't worry "Joe know it all", if we knew it all about everything, we wouldn't have this valuable Forum, and we need to push unwanted useless information from our heads in order to fill it up with more good useless information...

Hey guys, our local settlers museum has borrowed my fire engine for three weeks to use as a display. I am involved with a group called the Dunedin fire brigade restoration society. we restore old fire engines that were used in our city. We have several.Mostly Ford V8s, Marmon Harrington, Dennis,Land Rover,AEC, 1873 Shand Mason, etc from 1873 to 1968. Anyway, they wanted a restoration in progress so the work has halted for a while, maybe I can work on my 1918 Dodge. I don't have a digi camera yet but I will get some photos of the Graham soon and put them on for your eyes only.

Cheers, Brian