Chrysler early mechanical brakes

Yesterday I found a remark,I think by 33ply,that all Chrysler vehicles had hydraulic brakes from the start. Not to step on 33ply's toes,because this is an ongoing internet wide incorrect statement, but strictly speaking that's not correct. Very early models around 1924 through to about 1926 could have mechanical brakes on the rear and hydraulics on the front. The 'F-58' had mechanicals on the rear. I assume the hydraulics were on the front because it was easier to hook up a rubber tube than all those steel rods and stuff. And of course by about 1927 all Chryslers had hydraulics all around. Chrylser themsleves make the same mistake in motion picture ads meant to play during intermission at theatres of the 1930s. They say "like all Chrysler vehicles ever made,the 1935 Plymouth has hydraulic brakes for safety". Even they couldn't get it right.

All Chrysler products had hydraulic brakes from the start.....just not on all four wheels. Did "33ply" say that they had them on all four wheels?

All Chrysler products had hydraulic brakes from the start.....just not on all four wheels. Did "33ply" say that they had them on all four wheels?

I don't recall stating that all Chrysler products had four wheel hydraulic brakes. If I did then it was a slip. If a link to that is available and if the forum it is on has and edit feature, I will correct it.

I have stated many times that all Plymouths had four wheel hydraulic brakes and I believe that is a true statement.

I don't recall stating that all Chrysler products had four wheel hydraulic brakes. If I did then it was a slip. If a link to that is available and if the forum it is on has and edit feature, I will correct it.

I have stated many times that all Plymouths had four wheel hydraulic brakes and I believe that is a true statement.

That IS a true statement.

I was at the local library and found it under an AACA forum discussion that appeared after searching for '28/'29 PLymouth. It was on Mozilla and I use Google. I think the 2 search engines do not always return a list of the same sites on a search. Since I can't find it I can't give the exact statement but it was about Plymouths and then ply33 said all Chrysler vehicles had hydraulic brakes. Again, I'm just trying to keep things historically correct and this is one item that keeps getting misquoted. There were literally thousands upon thousands of Chrysler cars built with mechanical brakes. But I guess we may be into a semantical discussion about 2 wheel versus 4 wheel. It was of course 2 wheel but as I say thousands of Chrylser cars were out there for many years with mechanical brakes. These cars didn't simply disappear when the next year's model came out. They were on the highways and byways well into the 30s with mechanical brakes. External contracting I believe. Most it would seem were scrapped during WWII for the war effort.

Excuse my memory. 1928 Model 52s still came standard with rear mechanical brakes. In fact the book I have says the 52 came standard with 'two wheel mechanical rear brakes'. Is this saying what I think it says? Did the 52s only have two wheel mechanical brakes like an Essex or Star etc.? It says all others had 4 wheel hydraulic brakes. Did the writer forget to mention the front hydraulics or did the lowly 52 only have two wheel brakes? Never noticed this before.

...did the lowly 52 only have two wheel brakes?

DodgeKCL, you're right on both counts. The "52" was lowly and it had two wheel brakes. 4-Wheel hydraulic brakes might have been available as an option. Forgive my run-on paragraph, but for some reason my "enter" key is not ending a paragraph on this site today. In 1959 I bought a 1928 "52" from the original owner, and he had purchased the car specifically for it's two wheel mechanical brakes. Like others at the time he didn't trust hydraulic brakes and was afraid brakes on the front would cause you to lose control in a panic stop. The "52" was not a true Chrysler in that it had evolved from the Maxwell company that was purchased by Chrysler a few years earlier. It looked like a Chrysler but had none of the advances found on the "real" Chryslers. The "52" still had fabric universal joints and thermo-syphon cooling (no water pump, like the Model T). I was amused that the generator was mounted between the engine and the fan, I guess to make the engine appear longer in the Chrysler-sized engine compartment. It must have been a durable car though since the gentleman I bought it from used it as his sole transportation including in his job as a salesman in the surrounding area from 1928 until about 1958 when he broke an axle and couldn't find a replacement. (He didn't have the AACA; I did and located an axle easily). Don

Thanks very much for your response Don. As they said on that tv program 'the truth is out there'. So the statement by Chrysler in that 1935 Plymouth movie ad is even more erroneous because they knew better. Chrylser vehicles did not always have hydraulic brakes,2 wheel or 4 wheel. I remembered ply33 used the word 'Chrylser' in his response so that's what got me to start this post. I knew that Chryslers had mechanicals on the rear with hydraulics on the front. But I suppose it was splitting hairs. He's right of course,and he knew, that all Plymouths had 4 wheel hydraulics even though the first Plymouth,the '28Q, was really a Model 52 4 cylinder Chrysler in disguise. And again really a Maxwell in disguise. (ply33 did you ever find the AACA " '28/'29 Plymouth hydraulic brakes" question/post and edit it?)

. . . ply33 did you ever find the AACA " '28/'29 Plymouth hydraulic brakes" question/post and edit it?

Not yet.

Seems like if I put my ID into the search it only finds thread I started. And if I leave it out there are more hits than I've gone through yet. I did try the search string " '28/'29 Plymouth hydraulic brakes" and got two pages of threads. Looked at everyone of them and for those threads with multiple pages looked at each of those. I guess if I could figure out how to use the search function better. . . Or if I simply refrained from posting as much.

Hi All,

In the 80's I rebuilt an original 1927 model 50 tourer(12000 documented miles) and I had a 1928 model 52 tourer(now in England), both these cars were pretty complete when found and they both had rear wheel mechanical brakes only, no hydraulics. I also had a 1928 model 52 tourer,( also now in England) it had the optional 4 wheel hydraulic brakes, 12 inch diameter, these brakes are identical to the model 60/70 series only everything is smaller.

Best regards

Viv